Extreme wellness and endurance brand Spartan has acquired the business and assets of OCR brand Tough Mudder UK, which had entered administration in the UK at the end of January with Michael Solomons and Andrew Pear of BM Advisory LLP appointed as Joint Administrators. Tough Mudder UK employees are back to work and planning for the 2020 Tough Mudder season, which kicks off April 17 in Finsbury Park, North London.
"We're proud to welcome Tough Mudder UK to the Spartan brand umbrella," said Spartan Founder and CEO Joe De Sena. "The company's dedicated team has built an incredible, passionate community and we're excited to support their efforts to continue to transform lives."
As part of the terms of the deal, the Tough Mudder UK business will operate as OCR UK Holdings Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Spartan. The company will be operated by the existing Tough Mudder UK London-based team, led by Managing Director Giles Chater with the guidance of former global Tough Mudder CEO Kyle McLaughlin. Between the two brands, Spartan will host 17 events in the UK and Ireland in 2020, drawing more than 250,000 participants. Tough Mudder Germany will continue to operate under the terms of a management agreement with Spartan.
"Spartan's dedication to wellness, endurance sports, transformation and community is exactly what we need to deliver our vision and we could not be happier to join their family of brands," said Chater. "We've been impressed with strong sales in Europe over the past couple of weeks and know that our community will share our excitement with this news heading into the 2020 Tough Mudder season."
Tickets are on sale now at toughmudder.co.uk.
Spartan is still actively engaged in discussions with the Trustee managing Tough Mudder US through its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings and have reached a deal that is now subject to court approval. Spartan is in active discussions to engage some former Tough Mudder US employees, with an aim to stand up as many US events as possible after the sale of the Tough Mudder US assets in its Chapter 11 case, which could be completed within the month.
