Lemon Gym secures €22M debt financing from Poland's CVI for Baltic expansion
What's the deal? Lemon GymDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the largest gym chain in the Baltic states, has secured €22M in bond financing to fuel its expansion across Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. The bonds were issued in late March by Exercise Investment, the management company that controls Lemon Gym operator Gym LT, and purchased by funds managed by CVIDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Polish private debt investor. It is one of the largest private debt deals of its kind in the Baltics.
The chain currently operates 33 clubs across eight major Baltic cities and has around 85,000 members. Its goal is to reach 40 clubs and more than 110,000 members by the end of 2027, according to Lemon Gym chief executive Greta Radzevičienė.
Why now? Lemon Gym has been on an aggressive growth tear. Over the past year, it opened new locations in shopping centres and business districts in Vilnius, Kaunas, and Šiauliai.
More openings are imminent — new clubs in Riešė, Jonava, Riga, and the Paupys neighbourhood of Vilnius are set to launch soon. The company also plans to invest over €1.5M in renovating existing clubs in Kaunas, including one at the Žalgiris Arena, and in Riga's Akropolis mall.
What could go wrong? Debt-funded expansion carries risk, especially in a consumer-facing business sensitive to economic cycles. If membership growth stalls or consumer spending tightens across the Baltics, servicing €22M in bond obligations could become a burden. Rapid scaling also tests operational quality — maintaining service standards across 40 locations is harder than across 33.
The signal: Lemon Gym's "breakout" growth stage, according to Dealroom, aligns with a broader pattern of Central European private credit flowing into Baltic consumer businesses with recurring-revenue models. CVI, a Polish investment fund increasingly active in the region, is betting that Baltic gym penetration — still well below Western European levels — offers room to run, particularly as budget and mid-range fitness chains across Europe have seen membership numbers rebound past pre-pandemic highs.
Read more: lrt.lt
