United PF Holdings, the largest Planet Fitness operator, is negotiating a debt-for-equity swap with lenders after missing interest payments.
United PF Holdings, the largest operator of Planet Fitness locations in the country, is negotiating a debt-for-equity swap that would hand ownership of the company to its lenders. The private equity-backed operator, controlled by American Securities, missed an interest payment due April 30 and has since entered a forbearance agreement while advisors on both sides work through the terms of a restructuring.
United PF faces a first-lien loan maturing in December and a second-lien loan due in 2027, and the missed April payment signals the company can no longer service that debt on its current terms. Evercore and Kirkland & Ellis are advising the company, while separate lender groups have retained Lazard, Gibson Dunn, Perella Weinberg, and Paul Hastings, a lineup that points to a complex, multi-party negotiation.
United PF's scale, dozens of clubs under a single operator, makes it a bellwether for how private equity-backed gym platforms are holding up under higher interest rates and softer post-pandemic membership growth. A lender takeover would not close a single location on its own, but it would change who controls capital allocation, remodel budgets, and expansion decisions across one of the largest footprints in the Planet Fitness system.
No agreement has been finalized, and United PF continues to operate under the forbearance terms while talks continue. For other multi-unit operators carrying acquisition-era debt, the case is a reminder that lenders now have real leverage when growth-stage borrowing meets a slower-growth environment.
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