NEW YORK — Town Sports International (TSI) filed initial public offering (IPO) papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this month on the heels of its chairman and director, Mark Smith, resigning.
TSI has been pursuing a buyer while considering an IPO. As of press time, a spokesperson for the company would not comment on the SEC filing or say whether the company was still entertaining bids from buyers. The IPO filing did not offer a date for stock to be issued. If TSI goes public, it would trade on NASDAQ under the CLUB symbol, according to the filing. TSI would be the third publicly traded health club company. Bally Total Fitness and Life Time Fitness are the other two.
Smith, who had been with the company since 1985, resigned about a week before the IPO filing. He will continue as a consultant to TSI. Robert Giardina, the company's CEO, is now also director while Chief Development Officer Alexander Alimanestianu becomes president.
The company's recently released annual report showed that 2005 revenue increased to $388.6 million from $353 million in 2004. Operating income in 2005 was $40.3 million, an increase from 2004 of $34.3 million. Net loss decreased from 2004, sitting at $1.8 million in 2005 and $3.9 million in 2004.