A NUMBER of gyms in Northern Ireland owned by failed retail and fitness group DW Sports will remain open after Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group bought parts of the business in a £37 million deal.
The Frasers Group, which owns Sports Direct and House of Fraser, said it had acquired "certain of the assets relating to DW's gym and fitness business".
DW Sports collapsed into administration in early August, closing its seven stores in Belfast, Derry, Coleraine, Ballymena and Bangor.
It also closed three of its five gyms in the north.
Two gyms in Bangor and Shawsbridge, Belfast have remained open.
But members of the DW gym in Belfast’s Boucher Road were yesterday informed that their membership would now transfer to SDI Fitness, part of the Frasers Group.
The fitness clubs look set to be rebranded as Everlast gyms, the boxing brand acquired by Sports Direct in 2007.
Administrators BDO said on Monday that 46 fitness clubs and 31 retail outlets had been sold to the Frasers Group, saving around 922 jobs. The remaining 26 gyms and 19 stores are set to close.
It’s unclear if any of the Northern Ireland stores have survived the sale. Most of the seven are located close to Sports Direct outlets.
The price of the deal could rise to £43.9m if Frasers also acquires some leaseholds, the buyer said.
It includes some of the company's stock, but not the brand name DW, or the firm's intellectual property.
"The transaction compliments (sic) the existing gym and fitness club portfolio within the company's group and is consistent with the group's elevation strategy," it said in a statement.
"Frasers Group looks forward to elevating the gym and fitness assets acquired pursuant to the transaction under the group's existing iconic Everlast brand, and is also pleased to have saved a number of jobs."
During the year ending March 31 2019, DW had gross assets of almost £195m, and made a loss of just over £20m.
DW appointed insolvency specialists on August 3, after its income was hit by the lockdown that forced its stores and gyms to close.
It operated 73 gyms and 75 retail sites in the UK, but had already revealed plans to shut 25 stores in July.
Earlier this month DW said it would wind down the retail business for good, with the remaining 50 stores to close.
