MarketWatch:
Anytime Fitness, the fastest-growing fitness club chain in the world, will soon open its first club in the Middle East. The first of several Anytime Fitness clubs in the State of Qatar opened on January 1, 2012.
Almuftah Marketing, a division of the Almuftah Group, will own and operate the clubs in Qatar, per the terms of an Area Development Agreement with Anytime Fitness, LLC. The Almuftah Group is a privately held company based in Doha, Qatar, involved in a wide variety of business ventures, including restaurant franchising (Pizza Hut, Arby’s, TCBY, among others), consumer retail products (jewelry, watches, cosmetics), automobile sales, and manufacturing and engineering.
“The Almuftah Group is a successful and forward-looking business enterprise which is keenly in tune with evolving consumer tastes in Qatar and the Middle East,” states John Kersh, Vice President of International Development for Anytime Fitness LLC. “We are very enthusiastic that our partnership will provide greatly expanded access to quality health and fitness facilities for the Qatari population.”