BIDS.L Regulatory News (BIDS)

27 Feb 2006 07:00

ADDleisure PLC27 February 2006 ADDleisure plc / Ticker: ADE.L / Index: AIM / Sector: Leisure 27 February 2006 ADDleisure plc ('ADDleisure' or 'the Company') Disposal of Liberation Fitness Systems Ltd And Plans to Establish New Fitness and Well-being Studios As a result of the merger between Liberation Fitness Systems Ltd ("Liberation"),Power Plate International BV and Power Plate North America Inc., ADDleisure plc,the AIM traded company formed to develop products and services in the health andleisure sectors, has realised US$ 608,000 on the sale of its 41.8% stake inLiberation. This represents a significant profit of £245,000 (240%) on itsoriginal investment made just over 12 months ago. Allan Fisher, Chairman ofADDleisure, will become a director of the newly merged entity. Importantly,ADDleisure intends to use the Power Plate in a new retail format currently underdevelopment. As a first step in establishing a chain of high street fitness and well-beingstudios offering convenient and time-saving personal training services to thegeneral public, the Company is negotiating a pilot site in London. Measuringbetween 1,000 and 1,500 square feet, it is intended that the studios willinitially combine Power Plate training and Fitbug personal programmes with anaverage session lasting twenty minutes. Power Plate, a product which usesadvanced vibration technology to stimulate muscular and circulatory responses,offers users an effective resistance workout in a fraction of the time whencompared with an equivalent gym session. ADDleisure's online personal health andwell-being coach, Fitbug, measures users' aerobic activity and nutrition,prescribing personal programmes and motivating users towards achievement oftheir goals. Liberation has already tested the Power Plate in a retail environment havingopened a training studio in Crawford Street, London W1 in January 2005 which hasbeen gaining in popularity and has attracted a number of high profilecelebrities. Fitbug, which recently announced a distribution agreement withBrunswick Inc. in the USA, is fast becoming recognised as an effective tool forincreasing activity levels and encouraging a balanced lifestyle. By combiningFitbug with Power Plate, the studios will be able to offer an holistic approachto fitness and wellbeing which the Director's believe fits neatly into urbanlifestyles. The studios will adopt Ez-Book's intelligent booking software,which has been developed by the Company's subsidiary, Digital PlantationLimited, to offer versatility to the operator and convenience to users. ADDleisure Chairman Allan Fisher commented: "In the fitness and well-beingstudios we have identified a new concept that we believe can add significantvalue to the Company. The Power Plate agreement means that we can lock in asubstantial profit from the sale of our stake in Liberation and also develop thestudio concept following the encouraging signs at Crawford Street." ** E N D S ** Contacts Isabel Crossley St. Brides Media & Finance Ltd Tel: 020 7242 4477Ben Margolis ADDleisure plc Tel: 020 7449 1000 About ADDleisure plc • Floated on AIM in October 2004, ADDleisure Plc believes that the increase in awareness of the importance of physical health has resulted in an opportunity to develop and promote new highly differentiated offerings to the leisure industry as a whole, as well as market fitness products and services to the millions of people who want to remain healthy but do not belong to gyms. • It has made three initial investments in Fitbug Limited, Liberation Fitness Systems Limited (distributors of the Power Plate fitness equipment) and Digital Plantation Limited (developers of Ez-Book intelligent booking software). • The Company has a highly experienced management team, including Allan Fisher, founder and former CEO of Holmes Place; David Turner, founder and former director of LA Fitness plc; and David Cummin, founder and former director of Membertrack Limited, a leading club membership software provider. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange