At the end of September 2013, the first club of the fitness chain Hard Candy Fitness (HCF) in Germany opened in Berlin. Already in June 2013, edelhelfer had reported on HCF's expansion plans regarding the German market. A second club branded Hard Candy Fitness Women followed in early March 2014; moreover, four of the "Women's Gym Jopp & Jopp" were renamed to HCF Women. The sub-brand, which in accordance with its name targets women exclusively, exists so far only in Germany.

The concept developed by Madonna and New Evolution Ventures (NeV) has so far been present at various locations in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Santiago de Chile, Mexico City, Sydney and Rome. The first club on the North American continent opened its doors in Toronto in February 2014.

Operator of the Berlin branches is Jopp AG, which until mid-2013 operated eight facilities under the brand Women's Gym Jopp & Jopp. The company obtained exclusive rights to operate under the HCF brand in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The contract also allows for the integration of franchise partners which support the further development in this geographical context. Board of Directors and majority shareholder of the Jopp AG are the brothers Dr. Jürgen Jopp and Ralf Jopp. In 2012, the company recorded a negative EBIT of EUR -2.24 million based on a turnover of EUR 5.68 million. The turnover in 2013 is expected to be about EUR 9 million.

In order to support the further expansion of HCF in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the company plans to issue a bond with a maximum volume of EUR 5 million. The paper with a denomination per unit of EUR 1,000 has a term of five years and an annual interest rate of eight percent. Thus, it yields a higher interest than the "Wellnessanleihe" (German for wellness bond) issued by the German operator MeridianSpa, which pays up to seven percent to its investors. In the original issuing process of the Jopp AG's security, bonds with an aggregated principal amount of EUR 489,000 were sold between 9 December 2013 and 28 February 2014. In an extension of the initial offering period, additional bonds with an additional aggregated amount of up to EUR 4.51 million are expected by the company to be issued until 30 April 2014.

Source: Jopp AG
Picture: Jopp AG