PureGym has secured a £100m cash injection from shareholders to help deal with both the opportunities and threats posed by COVID-19. The move takes its borrowings to around £480m.

The budget operator said the additional cash – mainly from Leonard Green Partners – will be used to bolster its balance sheet so it can continue to develop and open new gyms when the right opportunities arise.

Pure Gym has also agreed to increase commitments under its revolving credit facility by £50m.

"This additional £150m of new capital boosts the total liquidity to which the business has access to £297m and will act as a substantial buffer to both handle any further enforced closures and continue our expansion," said CEO Humphrey Cobbold.

"Health and wellbeing have never been more important, and our scale and affordable, accessible proposition position us well to improve the health of people in all the countries where we operate," he said.

Earlier this year, Pure Gym said that, while Q2 performance had been "significantly impacted by COVID-19 closures", its swift management action and geographical diversity protected liquidity and cashflow.

Kris Galashan, Partner at Leonard Green Partners, said: "The management team at PureGym did an outstanding job guiding the business through unprecedented market conditions. This journey has underscored the business’s ability to withstand an extreme market shock.

"The PureGym Group is emerging as one of a handful of fitness businesses with global reach, sophisticated technology and yield management capability.

"The pandemic has reinforced the trend to health and the PureGym Group is excellently placed to provide facilities and services that benefit members and, in turn, societies. We are proud to be increasing our investment and playing our part at this challenging time and we look forward to supporting the business through its ongoing growth and expansion.”