Esporta Property Holdings (EPH) - owner of 17 freehold or long-leasehold racquet clubs - has been sold to a fully-owned subsidiary of the British Land Company (BLC) for £179m.

The 17 locations are operated under leases by Esporta Racquets and Non-Racquets, the entity that was sold to Virgin Active in April - pending approval from the Office of Fair Trading. New Esporta Holding Limited has confirmed that the completion of the property deal will be subject to the completion of the Virgin Active acquisition.

Esporta chair Richard Segal said: "This sale made the property assets of the business more attractive to institutional investors through the strong covenant provided by Virgin Active and this has enabled the sale of Esporta's property company to British Land. "This transaction, coming on the heels of the sale to Virgin Active, represents an excellent outcome for shareholders of New Esporta Holding Limited."