Ardent Leisure is planning significant investment in its entertainment ventures after offloading its health club business in a AU$260m (US$198.3m, €175.6m, £150m) deal to private equity house Quadrant.
Ardent’s health club division, which comprises its Goodlife Health Club franchise and Hypoxi training studios, has 76 location across Australia, with Goodlife the lead health club operator in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.
Commenting on the sale, Ardent said the move would enable it to become a high growth, global leisure and entertainment business, welcoming more than 20 million visitors across its Australasia and the US portfolio in the next year.
The sale of Ardent’s health club division will mainly be used for the company to grow its US-based Main Event operation. A chain of 25 FECs, Main Event increased profits this year by 18.7 per cent to AU$57m (US$43.5m, €38.5m, £32.9m) off revenues of AU$229m (US$174.7m, €154.7m, £132.1m). Ardent sees Main Event as a key driver of its business and is planning a further 11 FECs to open in the US in 2017.
“The sale of the health club division at a premium to book value underlines the board’s commitment to actively manage the group’s portfolio of assets and consolidate the group’s position as a leading global entertainment company,” said Ardent chair Neil Balnaves.
Ardent also revealed full-year profits of AU$42.4m (US$32.3m, €28.6m, £24.2m) for 2016, an increase of 32 per cent driven by a 15.6 per cent rise in revenue to AU$687.6m (US$524.6m, €464.5m, £396.8m).
Ardent’s theme park division, which includes Dreamworld and WhiteWater World, recorded total revenues of AU$107.6m (US$82.1m, €72.7m, £62.1m), with profits of AU$34.7m (US$26.5m, €23.4m, £20m).
Dreamworld is expected to face increased competition in the coming years, with
Chinese giant Wanda developing its own theme park nearby based around the
Jurassic World franchise
following its acquisition of Legendary Entertainment.
Commenting on the results, Ardent CEO Deborah Thomas,
who was appointed to the role in March last year, said the company is now becoming a “pure-play entertainment firm”, adding that Ardent would continue to invest in new attractions, such as an Asian-themed food outlet at Dreamworld’s Tiger Island.
