Benefit with Calypso Fitness M&A deal

WSE-listed employee benefits program operator Benefit System signed a deal regarding an eventual takeover of fitness club chain Calypso Fitness. According to the deal, Calypso will be divided into three parts, which at a later date, through a number of subsidiaries will be sold to Benefit’s unit Fit Invest. The deal is worth PLN 69 million with additional payments of up to PLN 37 million, depending on the company’s capitalization. Calypso assets to be sold will include 10 fitness clubs and between 5-9 rental agreements for premises where future activities involving the running of fitness clubs are to be conducted, the company said in a market filing. This is Benefit’s second attempt to takeover Calypso, as the conditional takeover deal expired. The company failed to secure antitrust watchdog UOKiK approval for the deal and retracted the motion. Back in early January Benefit withdrew its motion for regulator UOKiK's consent for acquiring Calypso Fitness, as its conditional deal to take over the firm had expired. In November 2017, Benefit signaled UOKiK had reservations concerning the deal. In June last year, Benefit increased its stake in Calypso Fitness to 83.4 percent from the previous 50.1 percent, buying the new stake from Lobavio Enterprise Limited, Mikołaj Nawacki and Ilona Nawacka for PLN 81.25 million.