Life Time Fitness To Be Taken Private By Leonard Green, TPG In $4 Bln Deal

(RTTNews) - Gym operator Life Time Fitness, Inc. (LTM) agreed Monday to be taken private by affiliates of Leonard Green & Partners, L.P. and TPG Capital for $72.10 per share in a deal valued at more than $4 billion. The deal is billed as one of the largest leveraged buyouts in the U.S. in 2015.

The deal, currently expected to close in the third quarter of 2015, is unanimously approved by Life Time's board of directors, who recommend shareholders vote in favor of the transaction.

"Following a comprehensive review by Life Time's board of directors of strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value, we are pleased to have reached this agreement, which provides our shareholders with immediate and substantial cash value representing a significant premium to our unaffected share price," Life Time Founder, Chairman, President and CEO Bahram Akradi said.

The deal will see Life Time shareholders receiving a consideration of $72.10 per share in cash for each share held. The offer price represents a 25 percent premium over Life Time's recent unaffected closing share price of $57.67 on March 5, the day prior to media reports on a possible deal.

The offer price also represents a significant premium to Life Time's closing share price of $41.60 on August 22, 2014, when it initiated a process to explore a potential conversion of real estate assets into a Real Estate Investment Trust.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Life Time is in advanced talks with a pair of private equity firms. In August 2014, the company was looking for a potential sale or a spin-off of its real estate assets.

The closure of the deal is primarily subject to approval from Life Time's shareholders and other customary closing conditions.

Akradi, also one of the key investors along with LNK Partners, has committed to make a rollover investment of $125 million in Life Time common stock, and will remain in his roles following the completion of the deal.

"We look forward to working with Bahram Akradi, the Life Time management team and all of its talented and passionate employees. We are confident that we will have a long and successful partnership as we continue to serve Life Time's many loyal members and customers," said John Danhakl, Managing Partner of Leonard Green & Partners.

In Monday's regular trading session, LTM is currently trading at $70.74, up $3.54 or 5.27% on a volume of 0.58 million shares, after hitting a 52-week high of $70.80.