Popular F45 gym franchise in Melbourne collapses after share price of fitness chain plunged
Struggling fitness chain F45 has suffered another blow with the closure of a popular branch in Melbourne.
The F45 Training Bayswater North, in the city’s east, collapsed into liquidation on Sunday.
The gym, which is owned by company Anthony Cselko Training Pty Ltd, has now had Garth O’Connor-Price and Christopher Bergin from insolvency firm William Buck appointed as liquidators.
The branch, which still says it’s open on Google and charges members $60 a week, was once crowned the best studio in its division and its Instagram bio reads ‘more than a gym’.
The F45 Training Bayswater North, in the city’s east, collapsed into liquidation on Sunday
The F45 Bayswater North’s Facebook profile has been removed and the Instagram account is private.
F45 Bayswater North has been contacted for comment.
Several F45 branches across Australia have shut down in recent months, with the company also suffering a major fall in its share price.
F45’s CEO Tom Dowd, who was appointed in March this year to turn the troubled training company around, last month told Daily Mail Australia they weren’t fazed about reducing their network.
‘We are prepared to shrink to grow,’ he said.
‘Closing unproductive locations to add value to existing studios strengthens our system.
‘An important aspect of our real estate strategy is to avoid over-saturation.
‘We are focused and committed to supporting our franchise network – their operational success helps ensure the entire system gets stronger.’
F45, which started in 2012 with one gym in Sydney, grew to having 1,555 studios and 2,801 franchises across 63 countries by mid-2021. It aimed to ultimately have 23,000 studios worldwide.
Hollywood actor Mark Wahlberg invested $450million in the business and celebrated its New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) float with Australian co-founder Adam Gilchrist in mid-2021.
The branch, which still says it’s open on Google and charges members $60 a week, was once crowned the best studio in its division and its Instagram bio reads ‘more than a gym’
That financial backing put Mr Gilchrist – who is not the famous cricketer of the same name – on the Australian Financial Review Rich List.
A year later, the ‘world’s fastest-growing fitness business’ worth more than $2billion dollars fell off a cliff.
In August 2022, the gym’s share price collapsed from $17.28 to just $3. It has continued to fall, with the shares having traded for less than $1 since April.
Some of the fitness empire’s branches across Sydney, Queensland and Victoria have recently closed down.
Struggling owners have even taken to Facebook to sell some of their gym equipment.
The Opulent Group, one of F45’s biggest franchisees, has shut down at least five gyms in Sydney, four in the southern suburbs of Kogarah, Kirrawee, Caringbah, Miranda, and one in Balgowlah, on the northern beaches.
Meanwhile, at least eight class actions have been launched in the US against F45 related to the NYSE float alleging ‘possible securities laws violations and/or breaches of fiduciary duties’.
Hollywood star Mark Wahlberg was an early US investor in F45
