Virgin Active Seeks To Grow La Dolce Vita

“Virgin Active, the health club operator in which Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group has a controlling 76 per cent stake, is to open 25 clubs in northern Italy over the next three to four years as it boosts international expansion. The group, in which Bridgepoint and Permira, the private equity firms, have minority stakes, has secured most of the targeted sites in Italy after signing deals with developers of several mixed-use property schemes. Virgin Active, which entered the Italian market in 2004, is already the country's biggest health and fitness club operator, after opening four clubs last year, taking its total to 13. The new Italian clubs were among ten sites added last year, taking its total to 179..."

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/leisure/article6261360.ece