Branson may float Virgin Active gyms

Sir Richard Branson is considering plans to float his Virgin Active gyms chain in a £1bn stock market launch, it was reported yesterday.

The Virgin entrepreneur is talking to potential advisers over a possible listing for the group, the Mail on Sunday reports.

Sir Richard currently owns 75 per cent of the group, which has 187 health clubs in the UK, South Africa, Italy and Spain.

Virgin Active, which has 71 gyms in the UK, was founded in 1999 and bought former health chain Holmes Place in 2006 from former private equity owners Permira and Bridgepoint. The buy-out firms now hold a minority stake in Virgin Active.

Sir Richard initially looked at floating the gyms chain in 2007 although the plans were put on hold by turbulent stock markets.

But the firm recently posted strong results despite the impact of recession with a 10th consecutive year of revenue and profit growth.

In 2009, the firm's underlying earnings rose above 100m for the first time, while revenues rose 15 per cent to 391m. It opened eight new clubs in 2009