Egym and the American fitness and wellness unicorn Playlist are merging. Playlist is functioning as the newly founded parent company of Mindbody, Booker and Classpass. According to its own information, the combined company achieves a valuation of 7.5 billion US dollars or 6.4 billion euros. In the course of the merger, investors valued Egym at approximately 2.5 billion US dollars, according to Handelsblatt.
The transaction brings additional new capital of 670 million euros (785 million US dollars). Affinity Partners is leading the financing round. A consortium of existing investors, including Vista Equity Partners, Temasek and L Catterton, is also participating. L Catterton and Meritech Capital already invested approximately 180 million euros in Egym in 2024. The pre-money valuation increased to over one billion euros.
New structure and leadership roles
After the transaction closes, both companies will continue to operate their brands as before. Egym will operate as a subsidiary within the Playlist portfolio. Fritz Lanman, CEO of Playlist, and Philipp Roesch-Schlanderer, co-founder and CEO of Egym, will serve as co-founders of the new Playlist group. Roesch-Schlanderer will also assume the role of co-chairman of Playlist together with Monti Saroya, co-head of the Flagship Fund at Vista Equity Partners.
Playlist develops AI-powered software and booking platforms for personalized wellness experiences. Since its founding in 2010, Egym has been digitizing the fitness world with smart training equipment, AI-powered workout programs and corporate fitness solutions. A key component is Egym Wellpass, a subscription-based platform for businesses.
Global expansion and shared vision
Together, Playlist and Egym are combining their expertise to build an integrated wellness technology platform. The new financial resources will primarily flow into the expansion of artificial intelligence. Fitness studios and wellness providers should thereby work more efficiently and strengthen member retention. Egym plans to strategically expand its fitness technology and corporate fitness offerings in North America and Asia. In parallel, Playlist wants to expand its previously limited presence in Europe through Egym’s established market position.
Fritz Lanman, CEO of Playlist, says:
“This merger is a defining moment for both of our companies. We continue to create the global infrastructure for personal wellness experiences. Egym’s approach to advancing this vision through technology and corporate fitness solutions, thereby promoting wellbeing at scale, inspires us. By combining our market coverage and complementary product portfolios, we can unite multiple levels of wellbeing in a single global platform: software, connected hardware, consumer bookings and occupational health management.”
Philipp Roesch-Schlanderer, CEO of Egym, adds:
“By uniting Egym and Playlist under one roof, we have the unique opportunity to improve people’s lives around the world through preventive healthcare. We bring smart training equipment, access to studios, management software, corporate fitness and personalized AI training together in a connected ecosystem. With this step, we can finally prove and scale the true value of the fitness industry: by shifting our focus from repair to prevention, we can together reduce chronic diseases, lower healthcare costs and make people healthier and happier.”
