Perth F45 gym collapses

Yesterday a WA-based company called F45 Total Fitness Pty Ltd, which operates the F45 gym in East Victoria Park, Perth, went into liquidation.

Colin Martin is listed as the sole director/shareholder of the company, according to ASIC documents.

At a general meeting yesterday, the decision was taken to put the business into liquidation citing “concerns about the Company’s solvency”, according to the minutes of the general meeting.

“The Company could not, by reason of its liabilities, continue its business or continue to trade,” the minutes of the general meeting said.

Liquidator Ross Thomson of insolvency firm Bankruptcy Advisory Centre, declined to comment to news.com.au on the size of the company’s liabilities, or whether it owed money to its employees.

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F45 Training is an Australian fitness franchise well-known for its 45-minute high intensity interval training (HIIT) classes which were an instant hit worldwide and received backing from Hollywood star Mark Wahlberg.

But the F45 franchise has been struggling in the past year amid an economic downturn and news.com.au has reported on more than a dozen of the privately-owned gyms going bust in Australia in the past six months.

It’s the latest spot of trouble to hit the embattled brand amid multiple class actions from investors, mass board resignations and in a blow from last month, the brand being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.

F45 had nearly 500 studios across Australia at the start of the year, however, an earlier news.com.au investigation found that 10 per cent of those gyms are actively trying to sell their businesses.

And with the collapse of the East Victoria Park franchise, this brings the total number of collapsed gyms to at least 17 in the past year.

F45 was founded in Sydney’s Paddington where its first gym was opened by Adam Gilchrist (not the cricketer) and Rob Deutsch in 2012, before expanding into the US in 2015.

In 2019, Hollywood actor Mark Wahlberg’s investment firm bought a minority stake in the business.

Mr Deutsch sold his stake for an estimated $US145 million ($A224 million) before the company listed on the NYSE in July 2021.

At that time, its shares were valued at $US16 ($A24.75) and it had a total valuation of $US1.4 billion ($A2.17 billion).

The business has been plagued by revenue reporting and accounting errors that ultimately saw Mr Gilchrist departed as CEO in July 2022 along with other key executives and directors.

In a statement the NYSE said: “In the opinion of the exchange, the company’s common stock is no longer suitable for continued listing and trading on the NYSE”.

– with Alex Turner-Cohen

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