Argonne Capital recaps National Fitness Partners and Sunshine Partners

• Since its founding in 2003, Argonne has invested over $2 billion of equity capital in a variety of small-to-medium sized companies
• Argonne promoted Bill Weimar to president and Karl Jaeger to vice chairman
• Sunshine Restaurant Partners has been an Argonne portfolio company since 2007 and National Fitness Partners has been an Argonne portfolio company since 2016

Argonne Capital Group has recapitalized two of its portfolio companies, National Fitness Partners, a Planet Fitness franchisee and Sunshine Partners, a master licensee for IHOP for the state of Florida and southern Georgia. No financial terms were disclosed.

On a combined basis, these two transactions represented more than $1 billion in new equity commitments.

“We are excited to have closed two transformational deals, especially amid challenging market conditions,” said Michael Klump, founder and chairman of Argonne in a statement. “These transactions delivered successful outcomes for existing investors while enabling Argonne, our management teams and a new consortium of investors to benefit from the continued growth of the iconic IHOP and Planet Fitness brands.”

Sunshine Restaurant Partners has been an Argonne portfolio company since 2007 and National Fitness Partners has been an Argonne portfolio company since 2016.

Argonne also recently promoted Bill Weimar to president, hired former Fir Tree Partners executive Ben Ghriskey as managing director and head of business development, and hired former State Street Vice President Smruti Shah as chief financial officer and chief compliance officer. The firm also elevated long-time Partner Karl Jaeger to vice chairman.

Based in Atlanta, Argonne was founded in 2003. The firm has invested over $2 billion of equity capital in a variety of small-to-medium sized companies across a diverse range of industries, including restaurants, fitness, automotive services, commercial landscaping and equipment dealerships.