Taurus Capital Groups With PE Agency Hidden River to Purchase 7 Little Gymnasium Areas | Franchise Information

Griffin Gordon may be excused if he sounds a bit worn down today. It has been a month crammed with each enterprise and private milestones and celebrations for the Chicago-based entrepreneur.

Taurus Capital Companions, the funding firm Gordon based and runs, lately partnered with one other non-public fairness agency, Hidden River Strategic Capital, to buy seven Little Gymnasium places in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The sellers have been longtime franchisees the Moore household and Connie Tator, with Richard Moore staying on in an operational position.

And, as if issues couldn’t get any extra hectic for Gordon, his spouse gave beginning to their third baby simply days after the deal was finalized final week.

“Yeah, it’s been form of loopy round right here, however it’s all good. Actual good. I couldn’t be extra happy with the way it all turned out,” mentioned Gordon, who will take a lead position in overseeing the Little Gymnasium places in Cary, Greensboro, North Raleigh, Fayetteville and Wilmington in North Carolina, in addition to in Mount Nice, South Carolina; and Farragut, Tennessee.

Taurus is an operationally targeted impartial sponsor focusing on long-term alternatives in founder-owned, decrease center market companies. Hidden River’s funding is the primary from its inaugural fund, which was raised $245 million and closed in June. The founding companions at Philadelphia-based Hidden River have expertise investing in franchised ideas and health facilities, amongst different trade verticals.

“This funding aligns properly with our agency’s concentrate on supporting small companies with versatile debt and fairness capital to help their progress initiatives,”mentioned Kevin Condon, Hidden River’s co-founder and associate.

The Little Gymnasium Worldwide deal, introduced August 17, is a notable occasion for each the franchisor and the franchisee. By taking up seven present places, and with the agreed upon objective of buying or opening one other 25 places over the subsequent decade, Taurus and Hidden River, which teamed to type Somersault Holdings, is on tempo to change into the model’s largest multi-unit operator.

For The Little Gymnasium, a youth enrichment model that works with kids ages 4 by way of 12, the settlement is the primary time the model has labored with non-public fairness operators to develop its footprint. The model now totals practically 400 places in 31 nations together with Canada, China, the UK and Thailand. In keeping with Nancy Bigley, the model’s president, 25 Little Gymnasium places are on observe to open this 12 months, with one other 15 places already within the pipeline.

“It does change the dynamic for us, in a good way, partnering with non-public fairness for the primary time,” she mentioned. “We see quite a lot of white house on the market, and having Griffin and the workforce assembled onboard will probably be a giant assist in getting us there. He brings a extremely nice stage of enterprise acumen that’s thrilling and enjoyable to have and it’s as much as us to help his efforts to develop his portfolio with Little Gymnasium places.”

Little Gymnasium’s growth has not come with out rising pains. Guardian firm Unleashed Manufacturers, whose portfolio of youth enrichment manufacturers additionally contains City Air Journey Park, Snapology, Class 101, Premier Martial Arts and XP League, has been concerned in a sequence of ongoing disputes with Little Gymnasium franchise operators who fashioned the Blissful Handstands Franchise Affiliation final 12 months to push again on modifications within the system.

In June, an arbitrator dominated in opposition to former Little Gymnasium franchisees Tiffany and Ryan Cianci, who claimed that Unleashed Manufacturers was making unfair calls for of their operation since shopping for the model in late 2021. Tiffany Cianci beforehand instructed Franchise Instances that she refused to signal a doc requiring digital withdrawal of funds that might supersede the franchise settlement, which she referred to as unlawful. She helped fashioned an impartial franchisee council to cease others from signing. Her contract was terminated in Might 2022.

Seidler Fairness bought Unleashed Manufacturers amid all of the unrest, which additionally contains lawsuits in opposition to Premier Martial Arts.

Gordon mentioned after doing his personal due diligence, which included speaking with the Unleashed Manufacturers executives and franchise operators concerning the ongoing disputes, he was glad with what he heard, and determined to pursue the deal to buy the seven Little Gymnasium places.

“It was necessary for me to listen to all sides of the matter and to attract my opinion,” Gordon mentioned. “It grew to become fairly clear to me that everybody is attempting to do the appropriate factor. Fact is there’s at all times going to be rising pains related new enterprise relationships.

“I actually consider that over the long run, this deal is certainly worthwhile for my group and for Unleashed Manufacturers,” Gordon continued, including a giant decider for him was having two kids enrolled in one of many two Little Gyms open in Chicago. “They’re getting a lot out of their experiences on the fitness center, and I actually consider you’ll be able to add 12 extra places simply right here in Chicago. There may be that a lot room for progress.”

Requested how The Little Gymnasium is coping with the disputes with its franchise operators, Bigley admitted it’s an ongoing problem.

“Look, no person likes it. I definitely don’t,” she mentioned. “So, yeah, it is not enjoyable when your franchisees are uncomfortable, however we’re going to proceed to work on enhancing our system. Change is at all times going to be robust for some operators.

“Look, we’re a 46-year-old model, and our objective is now we have to get extra constant on our branding and operations,” Bigley mentioned. “As for me, I’ll proceed to stay with my management model which is to hear, to collaborate and to drawback remedy.”