Mumbai Gym Chain -Talwalkars enters Sri Lanka

Forbes: One in four people in the tiny Indian Ocean island nation of Sri Lanka is obese. And Mumbai fitness chain Talwalkars Better Value Fitness has taken note.

In October it bought a 49.5% stake in Sri Lanka’s largest fitness chain - Colombo’s Power World Gyms (PWG).

This marks the $36 million (fiscal 2015 revenues) Talwalkars’ first expansion outside India. It already serves 83 cities in India with 149 gyms and has more than 125,000 members.

The Colombo deal - in post-war Sri Lanka - will give it access to 10 more gyms and 8,100 members in the under-penetrated nation. The demographics are favorable. Nearly a third of the population in Sri Lanka is aged between 18 and 39 years.

PWG - the Colombo health and fitness chain - is run by a sportsman, Talavou Alailima. He is a South Asian Games medallist and holds records in Sri Lanka for short put and discus throws.

Together the two groups plan to open 35 gyms in Sri Lanka over the next 18 to 24 months.

In November, Talwalkars also strengthened its presence in the Chennai market by acquiring a 51 percent stake in In Shape. This was an all-cash deal. In Shape has been serving the Chennai market for the last ten years. Talwalkars and In Shape will jointly run 8 gyms in the southern city. InShape already services 2,000 members through three gyms.