Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp. on Wednesday put its Crunch Fitness chain up for sale as it tries to restructure and strengthen its finances.
Bally, which faces a criminal probe into accounting issues, said it would evaluate interest from potential buyers of the high-end health club Crunch before making a final decision on the best way to improve shareholder value. Bally has hired The Blackstone Group L.P. to assist in its turnaround strategy.
A sale of the Crunch chain would continue a wave of deals in the fitness market, following a recent agreement by private equity firm Forstmann Little & Co. to buy 24-Hour Fitness Worldwide Inc. for $1.6 billion.
