If you've ever booked a yoga class through ClassPass or signed up for a gym membership via Mindbody, you're about to become part of an even bigger fitness empire. Playlist, the parent company behind Mindbody, Booker, and ClassPass, announced Thursday it's merging with EGYM, a global smart-fitness platform, in a deal that values the combined venture at $7.5 billion.

How the Money Breaks Down

The transaction, which still needs regulatory approval, includes $785 million in new equity investments from a heavy-hitting lineup: Affinity Partners, Vista Equity Partners, Temasek, and L Catterton. Once the deal closes, Playlist's existing brands will keep operating as they always have. EGYM, meanwhile, will become a subsidiary within the Playlist portfolio.

EGYM CEO Philipp Roesch-Schlanderer framed the merger as a health revolution in waiting. "Bringing EGYM together with the newly created Playlist under one roof represents a profound opportunity to impact lives through preventative health," he said. "Together, we can reduce chronic disease, lower healthcare costs, and make people healthier and happier by shifting the world from repair to prevention."

On the leadership front, Playlist CEO and ClassPass founding chairman Fritz Lanman will team up with Roesch-Schlanderer as co-founders of the new Playlist organization. Roesch-Schlanderer will also join Monti Saroya, co-head of Vista Equity Partners' Flagship Fund, as co-chairman of Playlist.

A Global Fitness Play

The combined companies pulled in more than $800 million in net revenue in 2025, and the merger is designed to turbocharge their global expansion. EGYM gets a pathway into North America and Asia, where Playlist already has solid footing but EGYM has been largely absent. Playlist, in turn, gains access to EGYM's established presence across Europe.

"We're inspired by what EGYM is doing to accelerate that vision with technology and corporate wellness solutions that power wellbeing at scale," Lanman said. "By combining our geographies and complementary product portfolios, we're uniting multiple layers of wellness—software, connected hardware, consumer booking, and workplace wellbeing—into one global platform."

Why Private Equity Loves Boutique Fitness

This deal is the latest chapter in private equity's ongoing love affair with boutique fitness. The industry's appeal is pretty straightforward: strong cash flow, sticky subscription models, and plenty of room for consolidation. Princeton Equity Group took a minority stake in Barry's Bootcamp last year, while Planet Fitness counts BlackRock, T. Rowe Price, and Vanguard Group among its major institutional investors.

In 2024, L Catterton acquired a majority stake in Solidcore in a deal that valued the company at somewhere between $600 million and $650 million. The Playlist-EGYM merger takes that trend to a whole new level, creating a fitness platform with global scale and diversified revenue streams spanning software, hardware, and consumer booking.