The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Financial decision · 2023
F45 listed at $1.6B promising 23,000 studios and was off the NYSE in two years
The franchise that listed at $1.6B promising 23,000 studios was off the NYSE two years later — $372M of losses, half of Australia's studios gone
F45 Training · 2023-08-14
What happened
F45 Training was founded in Sydney in 2012 as a franchised high-intensity interval training brand. Mark Wahlberg's investment vehicle bought a stake in 2019, and at its peak the network passed 600 studios in Australia alone, with a global footprint of thousands of locations.
On July 15, 2021 F45 listed on the NYSE via a SPAC at a US$1.6 billion valuation and a US$16 share price, on a plan to reach 23,000 studios — "bigger than McDonald's", as the founders pitched it. The stock's slide started within months.
The collapse came fast. In mid-2022 the company slashed its full-year projections, laid off 45% of its headquarters staff and parted ways with CEO Adam Gilchrist — who had earlier collected a US$10 million golden handshake when he left the top job. In July 2023 F45 admitted US$372 million of losses and "material errors" in earlier financial statements, and the NYSE had already flagged it for non-compliance.
On August 14, 2023 F45 announced it would voluntarily delist from the NYSE and deregister its shares, with the delisting effective about September 3. By 2025, more than half of its 600-plus Australian studios had closed, leaving about 200, and the company — led since March 2023 by early investor Tom Dowd — was plotting a comeback on a promise to "earn the right to grow".
Why it happened
- The pitch was the problem: 23,000 studios "bigger than McDonald's" sold a franchise machine, not a training business that territories could support.
- The numbers were wrong: US$372M of losses admitted in 2023, plus "material errors" in earlier filings, so the market stopped believing the disclosures.
- The franchisees paid: more than half of F45's 600+ Australian studios closed, because expansion had oversold the territories that gyms could actually support.
- The exit was public and complete: sub-$1 shares, NYSE non-compliance warnings, and a voluntary delisting announced August 14, 2023 that took effect within three weeks.
The lesson
F45 promised 23,000 studios and delivered delisting: US$372M of losses and half of Australia's studios closed by 2025 — franchises scale on franchisee profit, not promises.
Sources
- SMH | What collapse? How F45 Australia is plotting a comeback
- Fitt Insider | F45 Training Delists from the NYSE
- SEC | F45 Training Holdings Announces Intention to Voluntarily Delist and Deregister its Securities
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