Landmark California company bridges gap between fitness and hospitality

NEW YORK & SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)– KKR, a leading global investment firm, and The Bay Club Company (“Bay Club”), a premier active lifestyle and hospitality company, today announced the signing of a definitive agreement under which KKR will acquire Bay Club from York Capital Management and minority investors, including JMA Ventures and Roxborough Group. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1977, Bay Club operates a collection of active lifestyle campuses, welcoming more than 50,000 members throughout California. The clubs are designed with innovative amenities to support the company’s focus on Fitness, Sports, Family and Hospitality.

Bay Club is recognized as the pioneer of the urban sports resort. Over the past several years, Bay Club has assembled an experienced management team—a blend of fitness, hospitality, technology, and finance veterans. Under the direction of this team, Bay Club was given the opportunity to evolve beyond the fitness industry. As a result, the Company entered the realm of hospitality by grouping complementary properties into campuses and offering its members a range of high-end lifestyle amenities typically only found at country clubs and luxury resorts.

“At Bay Club, we are proud to have created California’s leading active lifestyle community. In partnering with KKR, we are excited to build even further on what we’ve accomplished thus far and bring our unique offering to even more communities across the country,” said Matthew Stevens, President and CEO of Bay Club.

“Bay Club’s pioneering and differentiated model is one of the few scaled platforms in a large and highly fragmented health and wellness industry, where members can find options that meet all of their – and their families’ – needs,” said Nate Taylor, KKR Member and Head of KKR’s Americas Consumer Retail team. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with Matthew and the rest of Bay Club’s management team.”

KKR is making the investment through separately managed accounts and its balance sheet.

Bay Club is being advised by Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC as lead financial advisor, North Point Advisors LLC as co-financial advisor, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP as legal advisors. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is serving as legal advisor to KKR.

About Bay Club
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, The Bay Club Company is an active lifestyle and hospitality company with a network of experiential campuses that welcome more than 50,000 members. The company operates across seven California campuses in the San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles and San Diego markets, employing more than 4,000 people. For more information on The Bay Club Company, please visit BayClubs.com or its blog, OneLombard.com. The Bay Club Company is also on Facebook and Instagram.

About KKR
KKR is a leading global investment firm that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate and credit, with strategic manager partnerships that manage hedge funds. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns for its fund investors by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and driving growth and value creation with KKR portfolio companies. KKR invests its own capital alongside the capital it manages for fund investors and provides financing solutions and investment opportunities through its capital markets business. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

About York Capital Management
York Capital Management is a global private investment firm that was established in 1991. The firm manages approximately $18 billion in assets across public and private investment strategies, including its private equity platform, the York Special Opportunities Fund, which owns Bay Club. York Capital employs approximately 60 investment professionals and 200 total employees globally, located primarily in New York, London, and Hong Kong.

Media:
Bay Club:
Annie Appel, 415-901-9351
annie.appel@bayclubs.com
or
KKR:
Kristi Huller or Cara Major, 212-750-8300
media@kkr.com
or
York Capital Management:
Gasthalter & Co. for York Capital Management
Nathaniel Garnick/Kevin Fitzgerald, 212-257-4170
York@gasthalter.com

Source: KKR

July 25, 2018, Hong Kong

– Real estate private equity firm Gaw Capital Partners today announced that the firm, through its European Hospitality Fund I managed by GCP Hospitality, acquired a 50% stake in Spain’s leading boutique hotel brand, Hospes Hotel Group, of which its total asset is valued at €125 million, forming a joint venture with a Spanish investment company, Omega Capital.

Hospes Hotel Group is a highly respected brand in Spain with 10 properties. The group is recognized as a highly acclaimed brand and operator within the luxury and heritage boutique hotel segment.

Each hotel has been crafted in an artisan fashion, combining elements of heritage, design, local textures and technology together.

Hospes’ luxury boutique hotels are situated in various prime locations across Spain, including Madrid, Alicante, Granada, Valencia, Mallorca, Córdoba, Seville, Cáceres and Salamanca. The properties are in close proximity to some of Spain’s most prominent historical sites, each designed by respected and renowned architects to create their own unique atmosphere and style. Their facilities, including bars and restaurants, wellness centers and spas, have received 5-star ratings.

Goodwin Gaw, Chairman and Managing Principal of Gaw Capital Partners, said, “We are delighted to form a joint venture with Omega Capital through our European Hospitality Fund I managed by GCP Hospitality to acquire a 50% stake in Hospes Hotel Group. Entering the Spanish market with one of Spain’s most distinguished entrepreneurs marks an important milestone for Gaw Capital Partners and its hospitality platform, GCP Hospitality, as we look to expand our presence in Europe and tap the abundant opportunities in one of the world’s most popular tourism markets. We will further expand the Hospes brand by opening more properties in tourist areas and strategic cities within Spain and Southern Europe.”

Partnership with Croatia’s Brodosplit to build a new expedition ship by 2020

Eurazeo PME is set to become the new majority shareholder of 2RH Group (Shark, Bering, Segura and Cairn brands ), one of Europe’s leading suppliers of protective motorcycle and outdoor sports equipment.

Eurazeo PME announces the signing of an acquisition agreement, under the terms of which it will become the new reference shareholder of 2RH group, a longside management and Naxicap Partners. The goal shared by Eurazeo PME and its senior management is to step up the company’s growth trajectory by strengthening its leading position in France and Europe, in particular thanks to external growth operations.

Eurazeo PME will thus take over from Naxicap Partners, the majority shareholder since July 2015. The operation is due to be completed in July 2018. Founded in 2008 out of the Shark brand, the 2RH group designs and manufactures protective motorcycle and winter sports equipment.

In line with the company’s innovative strategy and spirit, the equipment meets the highest standards in terms of performance and safety. 2RH has a workforce of over 600 and has three production sites in France and abroad (Portugal, Thailand). The group currently generates over half of its sales outside France, principally in Europe, the world’s No. 1 market, where it is one of the industry’s leaders.

With a turnover of €100 million in 2017 and an organic growth of more than 10% per year since 2011, the group has already made two acquisitions –Trophy (Bering, Segura) in 2011 and Marlybag (Cairn) in 2016, enabling it to diversify its offering while reinforcing its distribution networks.

Eurazeo PME is keen to support 2RH’s management, led by Patrick François, its Chairman & CEO, in consolidating its leading position in the motorbike protective equipment sector, but also in the sports sector, through both organic growth and acquisitions. Eurazeo PME will be placing its international business network –with its offices, notably in the United States and Brazil – and its corporate expertise (digital, CSR, etc.) at the disposal of the group’s operational excellence strategy.

Erwann Le Ligné, Managing Director-Member of the Eurazeo PME Executive Board:

“We are very enthusiastic about the management team and the quality of growth of a group with solid fundamentals.

Eurazeo PME wishes to lend its support to the 2RH Group in its ambition to double in size over the next five years by supporting innovation and stepping up international development, notably through external growth operations.”

Patrick François, Chairman & CEO of 2RH Group:

“We are delighted by the prospect of Eurazeo PME, a long-standing shareholder, accompanying us in stepping up our development. The presence of a professional investor such as Eurazeo PME at our side gives us the confidence to envisage new external European, and even global, growth opportunities.”

Angèle Faugier, Member of the Executive Board – Naxicap Partners: “We are delighted to be able to continue the journey alongside senior management and to accompany Eurazeo PME in this new, highly ambitious development phase. After doubling in size between 2015 and 2018, we were keen to lend our support to this next stage, which, furthermore, we shall be doing a longside a new majority shareholder̵ Eurazeo PME.”

About Eurazeo PME

Eurazeo PME is an investment firm and subsidiary of Eurazeo dedicated to majority investments in French SMEs with a value of less than €200 million. Eurazeo PME acts as a long-term professional shareholder, providing its portfolio companies with all the financial, organisational, and human resources they need for a sustained transformation, and guides them in creating sustained and, thus, responsible growth. This commitment is formalised and deployed through a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) policy.

In 2017 Eurazeo PME generated consolidated a net income of €1.1 billion and supports the development of Dessange International, Léon de Bruxelles, Péters Surgical, Vignal Lighting Group, Redspher, MK Direct Group, Orolia, Odealim, Smile and In’Tech Medical, which are solidly positioned on their markets and led by experienced management teams.

Through a dedicated capital increase with Activa Capital, Be Relax, the global operator of well-being and beauty services at airports, has raised up to €20m. The transaction will help accelerate the pace of Be Relax spa openings at both existing airport locations and at new airports.
Founded in 2004 by Nicolas and Frédéric Briest, Be Relax now operates 52 airport spas in 11 countries across Europe, the US, the Middle East and Asia. The group employs nearly 500 staff worldwide.
Be Relax has experienced strong growth in recent years, particularly in the US and the Middle East, winning numerous tenders, including the airports of Dallas, Philadelphia and, very recently, Muscat. Over the last few years, Be Relax has become the number one global operator of airport spas.

Activa Capital’s investment project, alongside Nicolas and Frédéric Briest, is to contribute to the acceleration of openings through an ambitious plan of 10 new spas per year, while supporting the founders as they implement their new marketing concept, gradually rolling it out across all points of sale.

“I am delighted with this partnership with Activa Capital. Their renowned experience in supporting external growth strategy will be key in carrying out potential build-ups for Be Relax,” Nicolas Briest, co-founder of Be Relax.
“Ultimately, we want to strengthen our global leadership, becoming number one in the US market. This development will involve the opening of many new spas, ” Frédéric Briest, co-founder of Be Relax.
For Christophe Parier and Alexandre Masson, Partners at Activa Capital: “We were impressed by the energy of the Be Relax founders and their ability to grow simultaneously across the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Airports are increasingly looking to offer relaxation and well-being services to passengers to relieve the stress of travel. This is a key moment in the development of Be Relax, which is structuring its shareholder base in order to accelerate the pace of its openings.”

Deal participants
Be Relax: Frédéric Briest, Nicolas Briest
Activa Capital: Christophe Parier, Alexandre Masson, Frédéric Singer
Buyer strategic due diligence: Roland Berger (Gaëlle de la Fosse, Olivier Hombreux, Michael Cosentino)
Buyer financial Due Diligence: 8 Advisory (Justin Welstead, Daniel Parsons, Baptiste Piasentin)
Buyer legal adviser: Hogan Lovells (Stéphane Huten, Paul Leroy, Alexandre Jeannerot)
Seller legal adviser: Stehlin & Associés (Svetlana Tokoucheva)
Seller corporate finance: Neuflize OBC Corporate Finance (Jean-Christophe Liard, Caroline Brun)

About Be Relax
Established Paris in 2004 with the opening of well-being spas at Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport, Be Relax has become in a few years a world leader in airport spas. Be Relax spas are regularly ranked among the best in the world of travel retail. Be Relax’s mission is to offer a special moment of relaxation to airport passengers. Taking advantage of its unique expertise in stress caused by air travel, Be Relax is innovating and developing a line of accessories in well-being and travel under its own brand name. These products are now distributed in more than 200 stores and boutiques around the world. Since its first spa at Paris Charles-de-Gaulle airport, the company has launched successively in Europe, the US and the Middle East. It now has 52 locations and employs more than 500 employees. The iconic Roissy Charles de Gaulle site employs more than 60 people on permanent contracts in 8 spas. To learn more about Be Relax, visit berelax.com.

About Activa Capital
Activa Capital is a leading French mid-market private equity firm. Activa Capital manages over €500m of private equity funds on behalf of a wide range of institutional investors. Activa Capital partners with ambitious mid-sized French companies, valued at €20m to €200m, seeking to accelerate their growth and their international footprint. Learn more about Activa Capital at activacapital.com or on Twitter @activacapital.

Activa Capital Media Contacts Steele & Holt Media Contacts Be Relax Media Contacts
North America:
Alexandre Masson Daphné Claude Adeline Moya
Partner VP, Business Development
+33 1 43 12 50 12 +33 6 66 58 81 92 +1 978 408 3065 alexandre.masson@activacapital.com daphne@steeleandholt.com a.moya@berelax.com
Europe & Middle-East:
Christelle Piatto Claire Guermond Virginie Desquatrevaux
Communications Manager Marketing Director
+33 1 43 12 50 12 +33 6 31 92 22 82 +33 6 68 11 03 78
christelle.piatto@activacapital.com claire@steeleandholt.com v.desquatrevaux@berelax.com

Torqx Capital Partners (“Torqx”) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a partnership with the current owners of Folat Group B.V. (“Folat” or “the Company”). Folat is the largest designer, manufacturer, and distributor of decorated party goods and party accessories in the Benelux. Key customer segments are dedicated party goods stores, webshops and large retailers. Folat also operates its own B2C e-commerce platform www.feestwinkel.nl.

Marc Mulckhuyse, founder and director of Folat, comments: “Managing the complete process from product design to production and distribution enables us to keep our leading position and develop new markets, like our B2C e-commerce platform. Joining forces with Torqx provides us not only with financial support, but also with the knowledge and expertise to develop and scale our business.”

Alex Adrichem, founder and director of Folat, comments: “We are delighted to enter into a partnership with Torqx. This will allow us to continue our strong momentum and build a market leading position in Europe. We are looking forward to realise our business ambitions together with the Torqx team.”

Peter Kroeze, Managing Partner at Torqx comments: “We are impressed by the passion and dedication of the Folat team to provide their customers with the best party products and excellent delivery and service. Folat has developed a strong market position, based on their innovative product range, retail expertise and thorough understanding of their customers’ needs. We look forward to supporting Folat in further building the company internationally and driving its performance.”

About Folat
Folat was founded in 1993 by Alex Adrichem and Marc Mulckhuyse. With an innovative and fresh approach of the market, the company has realised continuous growth since the start. Folat offers a broad range of party products, incorporating a variety of themes and licenses, and develops concepts in order to have a total solution for any store, product or theme presentation. Folat organises the complete distribution chain, from design and product development to production, sales and distribution. The Company is headquartered in Haarlem (NL), has sales offices in Belgium and Germany and operates a state-of-the-art 12.000 m² warehouse in Velsen. Folat employs ca. 70 FTE. For more information, please visit www.folat.eu.

Mentha Capital has recently expanded its portfolio by taking a stake in OFYR. OFYR’s main goal is to transform outdoor cooking into a more social activity, replacing traditional barbeques with something far more user-friendly and pleasing to the eye, whilst still enabling high-quality cooking.

OFYR’s leading product is a unique cone-shaped, high-performance cooking-unit which in combination with a wide range of supporting products forms a complete outdoor lifestyle concept. OFYR targets both high-end users such as professional chefs, focused on advanced cooking, and people who want to combine outdoor cooking with social events. Their products are used by both high-end restaurants and by consumers at home in their gardens. OFYR was first launched in the Netherlands in 2015 and is now sold in over 70 countries.

Peter Tourné, CEO and shareholder of OFYR: “We are delighted that in Mentha Capital we have a business partner that will be instrumental in bringing OFYR to the next level.”

Hans Goossens, founder and shareholder of OFYR: “I am very proud that in a short space of time we have brought OFYR to a level that such an established partner is willing to collaborate with us.”

Mentha Capital will support OFYR in accelerating its growth. Mark van Ingen, Investment Director at Mentha Capital: “What OFYR has managed to achieve in the last three years is extremely impressive. They have transformed a great idea into a mature company and established a new brand and category in a traditional market. We are pleased to actively support and work together with the company in realizing its ambitious growth plans.”

3i Group plc (“3i”) today announces that it will invest in International Cruise & Excursions, Inc. (“ICE”), a unique global travel and loyalty company that connects leading brands, travel suppliers and end consumers. 3i is investing alongside the founders, John and Marcia Rowley, and other senior executives, who will retain a significant minority stake.

ICE was founded in 1997, has over 2,000 employees and is based in Scottsdale, Arizona with additional offices in Australia, Europe, India, Mexico, New Zealand and the UK. ICE is a B2B technology business that partners with leading brands including financial services and travel companies to offer their customers access to travel and leisure products at preferred rates. The Company has developed proprietary technology that enables it to offer a wide range of loyalty, rewards and open-itinerary travel products across a variety of inventory types, including cruise, resort and hotel offerings.

The business has grown strongly with c.15% revenue CAGR from 2012 to 2017 supported by underlying growth in travel and increasing usage of loyalty programmes as a way to retain clients. There is significant potential in growth of both its domestic and international business, with international sales currently representing only 15% of revenues.

Andrew Olinick, Co-Head 3i North America, commented:

“This is an exciting investment opportunity and an excellent fit for 3i’s experience and track record in travel and technology-enabled services. ICE is a unique business that offers tangible benefits to all its stakeholders. We believe 3i can provide significant support to help ICE grow internationally and improve its offering for customers through enhanced sales and marketing initiatives.”

John Rowley, Co-Founder & CEO, added:

“We are delighted to be partnering with 3i and believe the team is well-suited to assist our business in continuing to grow and scale. 3i has a proven track record in the travel industry and an impressive international network which will be of great value to ICE.”

Marty Cole, previously Chief Executive of Accenture Technology, will join as a board member. Marty’s extensive experience of, and insight into, technology-led businesses, will be instrumental as ICE continues its impressive growth trajectory.
Kirkland & Ellis and OC&C Strategy Consultants acted as advisers to 3i.

-Ends-

IK Small Cap I Fund, advised by IK Investment Partners (“IK”), the leading Pan-European private equity firm, announces today that it has reached an agreement to sell Touristry Group Holding AB (“Touristry” or “the Company”), a market leading operator of sightseeing buses and boats and a provider of tourism related services, to Amsterdam-based Tourism Group Holding B.V. (“TGH”). Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

Founded in Stockholm in 2011, Touristry quickly gained market share from the incumbent market dominating player. Originally launched as a new brand of “hop on, hop off” buses, Touristry transformed the Nordic tourism sector by unveiling a fleet of modern bright red vehicles equipped with free Wi-Fi and multilingual audio guides. In 2014, the Company further expanded by adding hop-on, hop off sightseeing boats to its offering in Stockholm. Touristry offers an array of tourism services to approximately 2 million customers a year.

In addition to helping cement Touristry’s market leading position in the Nordic region, IK enabled the company to expand into Germany via two add-on acquisitions. Touristy now boasts a presence across Northern European tourist destination cities, including Stockholm, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga, and Berlin.

Commenting on the sale, Kristian Carlsson Kemppinen, Partner at IK Investment Partners and advisor to the IK Small Cap I Fund said: “Touristry has been a success story and we have greatly enjoyed working with its entrepreneurial team. It has been a pleasure seeing the business grow to new heights. IK remains very interested in supporting management teams and investing in growing and innovative companies across Europe, and helping them to become market leaders like Touristry.”

Micha Gottfarb, founder of Touristry and CEO, commented: “Since our very first meeting, the business relationship with IK has been underpinned by mutual trust and a shared vision. With IK’s help we were able to transform Touristry into a truly international business, with the scale and functionality to grow and sustain our market share. I look forward to building on our success in this next chapter for the company together with our new partner, TGH.”

Dirk Lubbers, CEO of TGH, said: “In Touristry we identified a company which had all the ingredients of a great business: innovation, a unique concept, and a product that was widely loved by the market. We look forward to working with Micha and his team to expand Touristry even further and ensure that the European tourism market continues to benefit from the great customer experience Touristry is able to provide. After our very successful expansion in Amsterdam we are thrilled to be able to realise a powerful urban tourism concept abroad. And as a result of our first foreign acquisition, I am proud to announce our new name; Tourism Group International.”

For further questions, please contact:

IK Investment Partners

Kristian Carlsson Kemppinen, Partner
Phone: +46 8 678 9500

Mikaela Hedborg
Director Communications & ESG
Phone: +44 77 87 573 566
mikaela.hedborg@ikinvest.com

Touristry
Micha Gottfarb, CEO
Phone: +46 709 35 53 93
micha@touristry.se

Tourism Group Holding
Dirk Lubbers, CEO
Phone: +31 (0)20 5300 919
d.lubbers@tourismgroupholding.com

About Touristry
Touristry is a market leading provider of tourism related services in the Nordics, primarily focused on bus and boat sightseeing (“Hop-On, Hop-Off”). Headquartered in Stockholm, the company has grown rapidly by expanding with its main brands Red Buses and Red Sightseeing and today provides services to over 2 million tourists per year in the Nordic region.

About IK Investment Partners
IK Investment Partners (“IK”) is a Pan-European private equity firm focused on investments in the Nordics, DACH region, France, and Benelux. Since 1989, IK has raised more than €9.5 billion of capital and invested in over 115 European companies. IK funds support companies with strong underlying potential, partnering with management teams and investors to create robust, well-positioned businesses with excellent long-term prospects. For more information, visit www.ikinvest.com

About Tourism Group Holding
Founded by Erik de Visser in 1983, TGH has grown from a family owned ticket reseller into the leading tour operator for urban tourism in the Netherlands. Through several strategic acquisitions TGH created a fully integrated urban tourism company offering unrivalled visitor experience by offering a broad range of tickets to local museums, attractions, Amsterdam canal cruises, hop-on hop-off bus trips, and fun excursions to other places in the Netherlands and Belgium. For more information visit www.tours-tickets.com