Mindbody’s Owner Merged With EGYM in a $7.5 Billion Deal. What Schools on Mindbody and ClassPass Should Watch
The software many martial arts schools use for scheduling and billing now belongs to one of the largest companies in fitness technology. Playlist, the parent of Mindbody, ClassPass and Booker, closed its merger with EGYM, the German smart-equipment and corporate-wellness company, on March 31, 2026. The combined company is valued at $7.5 billion and raised $785 million in new equity. Nothing has been announced that changes pricing or contracts for Mindbody’s small-business customers because of the merger. That is exactly why owners on the platform should know what changed above them.
What happened?
- Announced: January 15, 2026. Closed: March 31, 2026.
- Value: $7.5 billion combined enterprise value.
- New money: $785 million in equity, led by Affinity Partners, with Vista Equity Partners, Temasek and L Catterton participating.
- Leadership: Fritz Lanman, CEO and co-founder of Playlist, and Philipp Roesch-Schlanderer, Playlist co-founder and EGYM CEO, who is also co-chairman with Vista’s Monti Saroya.
- Scale: more than 40,000 businesses on Mindbody, 88,000 ClassPass venues, 20,000 employers on EGYM Wellpass and 33,000 EGYM equipment locations, with over 3,000 employees.
The companies said the new capital will fund AI development and EGYM’s growth in North America and Asia. They declined to describe upcoming AI features when the deal closed.
Why should a school owner care?
Your vendor’s priorities may shift. EGYM’s business is selling equipment to gyms and wellness benefits to employers. A merged company built around corporate wellness and large chains has less obvious reason to prioritise a 150-student karate school.
Corporate wellness is a channel, not just a threat. EGYM Wellpass pays partner facilities to accept employees who hold the benefit. If the merged company connects Wellpass and ClassPass to Mindbody businesses, some schools may be offered new visitor traffic. Read the payout terms before you accept: drop-in visitors at a discount are not members, and a martial arts school’s model depends on progression and retention.
Pricing can change at renewal. Mindbody published new U.S. pricing in 2026, “starting at $79/month per location,” which the company did not tie to the merger. Check your contract’s renewal date and price-change clause now.
Four things to do if you run on Mindbody
- Find your renewal date and notice period. Know when you can leave and how much notice you must give.
- Export your data on a schedule. Member lists, billing and attendance, at least quarterly, so a switch is never a hostage negotiation.
- Know your payment processing terms. Rates and who holds the merchant account matter more to your margin than the subscription fee.
- Price the alternatives once a year. The martial arts and BJJ software market is crowded in 2026; see our coverage of Gymdesk, BJJLink and UJITSU.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns Mindbody now?
Playlist, which merged with EGYM on March 31, 2026. The combined company is valued at $7.5 billion.
Has Mindbody changed prices because of the merger?
No merger-related pricing change has been announced. Mindbody separately published U.S. pricing starting at $79 a month per location in 2026.
What is EGYM?
A German fitness-technology company that makes smart training equipment and runs EGYM Wellpass, a corporate wellness benefit used by more than 20,000 employers.
Sources, and what we could not confirm
NGP Capital and EGYM merger announcements (January 15 and March 31, 2026); TechCrunch (March 31, 2026); Kirkland & Ellis release; Mindbody pricing blog (2026). We found no announced plan to integrate Wellpass or ClassPass with Mindbody’s small-business customers, and no merger-related product or pricing change. Any figures above are the companies’ own.
