Austin's latest public company is a gym chain that focuses heavily on franchising and is backed by actor Mark Wahlberg.
Shares of F45 Training Holdings Inc. began trading July 15 on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "FXLV."
The fitness company raised $325 million by selling about 20.3 million shares at $16 each. That was smack dab in the middle of its previously announced price range.
With 2020 revenue of $82.3 million, it would rank as the 32nd largest public company in the Austin area by that metric, between Open Lending Corp. and Asure Software inc.
Here are five other things to know about the company.
1. Shares haven't moved much
Shares opened July 15 at $17 apiece. They climbed as high as $17.75 but closed their first day at $16.20. Shares closed July 16 at $16.10, giving F45 a market capitalization of about $1.4 billion, according to Yahoo Finance.
2. Most of the proceeds are going toward debt and M&A
F45 said in a July 13 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it planned to spend about $190.7 million of the IPO proceeds to pay down debt, including a Paycheck Protection Program loan. An additional $25 million is planned for buying "certain assets" of Flywheel, an indoor cycling company that filed for bankruptcy last September.
Another $2.5 million is planned for cash bonuses to F45 employees, according to the filing. Roughly $5.6 million was intended to pay IPO expenses and the remainder was for "working capital and general corporate purposes."
3. The company previously considered going public
Last year, F45 was set to go public in a merger with Crescent Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company or SPAC. The deal valued the fitness company at $845 million, Club Industry reported in June 2020.
But the deal was called off, with part of the blame put on the Covid-19 pandemic.
4. This is a franchise play
Nearly all of its locations are franchises. The company said in the SEC filing that it had sold 2,801 franchise agreements across 63 countries by the end of June. Opening an F45 normally costs $315,000, according to the filing.
Adam Gilchrist, CEO and co-founder of F45, told Barron's that the company wants to challenge Planet Fitness Inc. (NYSE: PLNT), another gym chain that heavily franchises: "We will overtake Planet Fitness. We’ve got them in our crosshairs."
5. It is building its HQ in South Austin
F45 has leased about 44,000 square feet at Penn Field off South Congress Avenue that it is currently finishing construction on.
The company said in its SEC filing that its lease runs through June 2029, with a five-year extension option. It is currently in temporary space at WeWork on Barton Springs Road.
F45 has additional offices in London and Paddington, Australia.
