Ruya Partners exits GymNation after $100 million refinancing

By AI, Created 9:38 AM UTC, May 19, 2026, /AGP/ – Ruya Partners has fully repaid its 2023 private credit facility to GymNation after the gym operator completed a $100 million refinancing with HPS Investment Partners, part of BlackRock. The deal caps a rapid expansion that took GymNation from 11 UAE gyms to nearly 50 locations and more than 200,000 members across the GCC.

Why it matters: - The refinancing gives GymNation a new capital base as it keeps expanding across the GCC. - Ruya Partners’ full repayment marks a clean exit from a 2023 facility that helped fund the founders’ buyback and regional growth. - The transaction shows that a local private credit backer can hand off a fast-growing regional business to larger institutional capital.

What happened: - Ruya Partners announced the full repayment of its senior secured private credit facility to GymNation. - The repayment followed GymNation’s $100 million refinancing by HPS Investment Partners, a part of BlackRock. - Ruya provided a $25 million senior secured private credit facility in October 2023. - The 2023 facility anchored a management buyout led by co-founders Loren Holland, Frank Afeaki and Anthony Martland. - The financing helped the founders regain full control of GymNation and fund expansion into Saudi Arabia. - Tricap Investments participated as the equity partner in the transaction.

The details: - GymNation is the Middle East’s largest low-cost gym operator. - At the time of Ruya’s investment, GymNation operated 11 gyms in the United Arab Emirates and served about 50,000 members. - Over the next two and a half years, GymNation expanded into Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. - GymNation grew to nearly 50 locations and more than 200,000 members across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. - Ruya described the exit as the full repayment of its facility and a validation of the team’s growth plan. - Loren Holland said the founders needed a more aligned investor base to execute their ambitions and appreciated Ruya’s flexible funding structure. - Omar Al Yawer said GymNation fit Ruya’s model of backing a regional champion, scaling it across the GCC and refinancing it with global institutional capital. - Ruya said the GymNation realization is one of several exits from its inaugural fund. - Ruya’s inaugural fund has deployed capital across consumer, healthcare, technology and business services in the GCC and broader developing markets.

Between the lines: - The deal suggests GymNation has reached a size and profile that can attract global credit providers instead of only growth-stage backers. - Ruya’s exit supports its pitch to investors that the firm can originate regional deals and return capital through institutional refinancings. - The shift from founder-led rescue capital to larger-scale refinancing usually signals a business that has moved into a more mature growth phase.

What’s next: - GymNation is now positioned to keep expanding under the new refinancing structure. - Ruya said it is currently in the market with its second flagship private credit fund. - The firm expects investors in that fund to gain exposure to similar GCC growth stories.

The bottom line: - GymNation’s refinancing turns a 2023 founder-recapture deal into a realized win for Ruya Partners and a new funding platform for further expansion.