Gym jaunt a lucrative exercise as float looms

A former equities trader who spent his redundancy to buy a gym is set for a $600m windfall.

Rob Deutsch and Paige Hathaway of F45, which is about to float in the US.

A former equities trader who spent his redundancy cheque to buy a gym is poised to join the ranks of Australian IPO success stories in the US in a deal potentially worth more than $600m.

Rob Deutsch, the founder of fast-growing fitness and exercise franchise business F45, is said to have filed for an initial public offering in the US and is being advised by investment banks Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase.

The company, which Mr Deutsch formed in Sydney in 2012 after being made redundant from his equities trading job in the wake of the global financial crisis, was valued at about $US450m ($600m) last March when Hollywood actor and investor Mark Wahlberg led an investment round.

Wahlberg has since heavily promoted F45 on his social media accounts, including the results of his own workouts at the fast-paced group exercise business, which has become renowned for its intensive 45-minute exercise classes featuring interval and circuit training.

Bloomberg reported the details of the potential deal on Thursday and that the stockmarket float could happen as early as the first half of this year.

F45 now has more than 1700 studios operating in at least 45 countries around the world.

It has expanded rapidly since Mr Deutsch and business partner Adam Gilchrist — not the cricketer but an old rugby union teammate — set up a gym for about $100,000 in Sydney’s White City then operating as Rollex eight years ago after leaving his corporate careers behind. By 2016, the pair were running a business that had already rolled out about 500 F45 franchises in Australia, ­Europe, the US, Canada and several countries in Asia — a rate of growth which has since accel­erated.

F45 claims to be the world’s fastest-growing fitness network.

It has moved its headquarters to Los Angeles and continues growing quickly in the US.

It has opened studios in countries such as Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Kenya and Mauritius as it signs on up to 100 new franchisees a month.

The company draws on more than 4000 different exercises and changes its workouts every few months in order to maintain a point of differentiation in a saturated market for gyms and workout franchise brands.

Mr Deutch previously claimed the business was making annual profits of at least $US30m.

He was ranked 234th on the 2019 edition of The List — Australia’s Richest 250, published by The Australian, with estimated wealth of $406m.

Both he and Mr Gilchrist have made significant property investments in recent years.

Mr Deutch has accumulated a portfolio worth more than $22m, including four luxury apartments in the same block in Bondi and shelling out $11.2m for a house in Sydney’s Bronte in 2018.

Mr Gilchrist, who is no relation to the famous cricketer of the same name, spent $18.85m on Wategos House at Byron Bay last year, months before paying $14m for a house in Freshwater. He also owns several beachfront houses in northern NSW.