Media Inquires: Bruce Hartman 584-4637
Knoxville, TN – June 7, 2010 -- In a sudden and surprising move, the Advanced Workout Group announced earlier today the supervised acquisition of all of the remaining assets of the Fitness Amateur Training Group (the “FAT Group”), pictured to the right in their last official group photo. The move comes after several weeks of intense negotiations by the management and board of directors of the FAT Group with others in hopes of keeping the FAT Group’s independence. These negotiations were prompted by the deteriorating condition of the FAT Group over the past several weeks due to the ongoing loss of members from such tragic conditions as male yeast infection and chronic jet lag. The group’s decline could not even be stemmed by such novel innovations as making the FAT Group co-ed with the admission of its first female member. When it became evident that the FAT Group could not survive as a viable entity, the regulatory authorities at Cherokee Country Club, led by Fitness Committee chair Mark Haun, placed the FAT Group into receivership and brokered the late night deal with the Advanced Workout Group to assume the remaining assets. Under the arrangement, the FAT Group will become a wholly owned subsidiary of the Advanced Workout Group and Cherokee Country Club will retain and be responsible for all toxic assets and liabilities of the FAT Group. Although no severance will be provided for the non-acquired members and other assets of the FAT Group, the final negotiations resulted in allowing for continued access to the steam room, towels, and free coffee. The transaction was structured over the holiday weekend so that normal operations resumed on Wednesday morning. Still to be determined is what potential impact this unprecedented arrangement could have on the existing membership on the Fitness Committee and Cherokee Board for certain members of the FAT Group, and if any conflict of interests existed as a result of the arrangement.
Ken Bodie, CEO, of the Advanced Workout Group, said in a statement, “We were pleased to acquire the remaining viable assets of FAT Group and believe that the John “Grape Ape” Felton and Dr. Wallin “Drill ‘Em” Myers will be able to be integrated very quickly into our operations. Like others, we have been watching the deterioration of the FAT Group with great concern about what kind of disruption it would create in the workout room. We are pleased that the authorities at Cherokee also recognized this potential problem and made arrangements that protect the interests of the Advanced Workout Group and its shareholders and the members of Cherokee Country Club. We do not expect this transaction to be accretive to our earnings in the near term.”
Sources indicate that the initial workout on Wednesday went as well as could be expected and the members of the Advanced Workout Group were gracious hosts to their new members, although the new members remained temporarily quarantined and were forced to work out within their own separate group. After the initial training period covering such topics as minimum attendance, repetition counting, clothing, steam room operations, and sweat wiping etiquette, it is expected that the former members of FAT Group will become fully integrated into the Advanced Workout Group.
Knoxville, TN – June 7, 2010 -- In a sudden and surprising move, the Advanced Workout Group announced earlier today the supervised acquisition of all of the remaining assets of the Fitness Amateur Training Group (the “FAT Group”), pictured to the right in their last official group photo. The move comes after several weeks of intense negotiations by the management and board of directors of the FAT Group with others in hopes of keeping the FAT Group’s independence. These negotiations were prompted by the deteriorating condition of the FAT Group over the past several weeks due to the ongoing loss of members from such tragic conditions as male yeast infection and chronic jet lag. The group’s decline could not even be stemmed by such novel innovations as making the FAT Group co-ed with the admission of its first female member. When it became evident that the FAT Group could not survive as a viable entity, the regulatory authorities at Cherokee Country Club, led by Fitness Committee chair Mark Haun, placed the FAT Group into receivership and brokered the late night deal with the Advanced Workout Group to assume the remaining assets. Under the arrangement, the FAT Group will become a wholly owned subsidiary of the Advanced Workout Group and Cherokee Country Club will retain and be responsible for all toxic assets and liabilities of the FAT Group. Although no severance will be provided for the non-acquired members and other assets of the FAT Group, the final negotiations resulted in allowing for continued access to the steam room, towels, and free coffee. The transaction was structured over the holiday weekend so that normal operations resumed on Wednesday morning. Still to be determined is what potential impact this unprecedented arrangement could have on the existing membership on the Fitness Committee and Cherokee Board for certain members of the FAT Group, and if any conflict of interests existed as a result of the arrangement.
Ken Bodie, CEO, of the Advanced Workout Group, said in a statement, “We were pleased to acquire the remaining viable assets of FAT Group and believe that the John “Grape Ape” Felton and Dr. Wallin “Drill ‘Em” Myers will be able to be integrated very quickly into our operations. Like others, we have been watching the deterioration of the FAT Group with great concern about what kind of disruption it would create in the workout room. We are pleased that the authorities at Cherokee also recognized this potential problem and made arrangements that protect the interests of the Advanced Workout Group and its shareholders and the members of Cherokee Country Club. We do not expect this transaction to be accretive to our earnings in the near term.”
Sources indicate that the initial workout on Wednesday went as well as could be expected and the members of the Advanced Workout Group were gracious hosts to their new members, although the new members remained temporarily quarantined and were forced to work out within their own separate group. After the initial training period covering such topics as minimum attendance, repetition counting, clothing, steam room operations, and sweat wiping etiquette, it is expected that the former members of FAT Group will become fully integrated into the Advanced Workout Group.
