Combination with Exercite will accelerate Epassi’s journey towards building Europe’s leading digital multi-benefit provider to corporates and employees
Epassi Group (“Epassi” or “the Company”), a market leader for digital employee benefit payments in the Nordics, UK and Italy, today announced the strategic acquisition of Exercite, a provider of corporate health and wellness benefit solutions in Germany and the Netherlands, from Waterland Private Equity (“Waterland”) and its founders. The transaction follows the simultaneous completion of a majority investment in Epassi from TA Associates (“TA”) and Warburg Pincus LLC (“Warburg Pincus”), two leading global private equity firms focused on growth investing.
Established in 2004, Exercite operates across four brands, including Hansefit, a leading corporate health and wellness network provider in Germany; Bedrijfsfitness Nederland (BFNL) and Workit, two leading corporate health and wellness network providers in the Netherlands; and Fitbase, a provider of online, digital wellbeing courses based in Germany. Together, the brands provide access to a large network of gyms, fitness studios, swimming pools, spa services and physiotherapist centers to more than 2.5 million employees, alongside an array of digital offerings in mindfulness, sports and wellbeing.
The combination of Epassi and Exercite creates one of Europe’s largest independent employee benefits providers, adding more than 7,000 corporate customers and over 12,000 merchants to Epassi’s growing portfolio. The combined group will serve approximately 20,000 companies across seven countries in Europe (Germany, Finland, Sweden, Italy, Netherlands, UK and Ireland), enabling their employees to redeem a comprehensive range of benefits from over 74,000 merchants.
“As employees worldwide continue to strive for greater work-life balance, employee benefits, including access to health and wellness solutions, have become increasingly important to hiring and retaining top talent,” said Pekka Rantala, CEO of Epassi. “Our aim is to become the leading pan-European multi-benefits provider, and this acquisition will be instrumental to achieving this goal. Building on this significant milestone, we are excited to further accelerate our growth in partnership with TA and Warburg Pincus and to warmly welcome all new colleagues from Exercite to join the Epassi family.”
“After a very successful partnership with Waterland, this marks an exciting new chapter in our history. We look forward to working closely alongside Epassi, as well as TA and Warburg Pincus, to continue to provide our corporate customers, employees and network partners with best-in-class health and wellness offerings. We particularly look forward to leveraging Epassi’s mobile platform to expand Exercite into a broader multi-benefit provider,” added Dr. Alexander Wellhöfer, CEO of Exercite.
“With the acquisition of Exercite, Epassi expands its geographic footprint to include Germany and the Netherlands, solidifying it as a pan-European, digital-first platform for employee benefits payments. We are thrilled to mark the start of our partnership with this positive contribution to growth and margins, and look forward to continued collaboration with the Epassi, Exercite and Warburg Pincus teams,” stated Naveen Wadhera, Managing Director, Max Cancre, Director, and Laurent Indekeu, Vice President, at TA.
“Exercite is a compelling and transformational acquisition for Epassi, substantially accelerating our joint long-term value creation plan and giving the Company significant scale in the large and attractive German and Dutch corporate health and wellness markets. M&A in Europe’s largest employment markets is a core element of our joint investment strategy for Epassi and will continue to drive long-term value creation across the platform,” said Issam Abedin, Principal, and Tarik-Timo Ghoniem, Vice President, at Warburg Pincus.
“Our journey with Exercite began with the ambition to create a leading corporate fitness and digital health services provider. The company has not only achieved this goal but also expanded its reach in Europe through strategic acquisitions. Joining an international group marks a new chapter of growth and innovation for Exercite,” explained Dr. Gregor Hengst, Managing Partner at Waterland. “Together with Waterland and our ambitious management team, we managed to bring Hansefit and Exercite Group to the next level while maintaining our strong commitment to our customers and partners,” concludes Jens Pracht, founder of Hansefit.
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