PRIVATE EQUITY OWNED
Crunch Fitness
Includes Crunch Gym, Crunch
gym chain · New York, NY
- PE Firm
- Leonard Green & Partners →
- Acquirer
- Leonard Green & Partners (from TPG Growth)
- Year Acquired
- 2025
The PE growth machine that keeps getting flipped between private equity firms.
What They Did
- TPG Growth acquired Crunch in 2019, then sold majority stake to Leonard Green & Partners in 2025 — the second PE flip in six years
- Added 2.1 million members (176% increase) and 275 locations under TPG, more than doubling its footprint
- Unveiled 'Crunch 3.0' redesign adding saunas and red light therapy — premiumizing a formerly budget brand
- Largest franchise groups are themselves PE-backed, creating a PE-on-PE ownership layer between members and decision-makers
Since the Acquisition
- A 2026 class action in California alleges Crunch advertises one membership price and reveals a mandatory annual fee only late in checkout — so far that's an allegation, not a ruling
- Crunch holds 1.7 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot with 78% negative reviews — the most common complaints center on unauthorized charges, hidden fees, and cancellation runarounds
- Crunch's own FAQ says the annual fee runs up to $89 and many clubs sell plans with an annual commitment, not just cancel-anytime memberships — and reviewers at individual clubs describe 90-day contracts, a $34 cancellation fee, and 30-day notice terms they say caught them off guard
- The low-cost, high-volume model leads to chronic overcrowding during peak hours — members report long waits for equipment and deteriorating facilities including broken lockers and depleted supplies
Sources
- TPG Sells Crunch Fitness to Leonard Green — Franchise Times(2025-04-01)
- Crunch Fitness Announces Leonard Green Investment — PR Newswire(2025-04-01)
- Crunch Fitness Reviews — Trustpilot(2025-01-01)
- TPG Growth buys Crunch Fitness — PE Hub(2019-07-01)
- Crunch Fitness class action alleges mandatory junk fees — Top Class Actions(2026-04-16)
- FAQ — Crunch Fitness(2026-09-23)
- Crunch Franchise Brings Four State-of-the-Art Crunch 3.0 Gym to the Rocky Mountain Region — AOL(2026-07-13)