Houlihan Lokey Advises Tailwind Capital

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Tailwind Capital (Tailwind) has acquired International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA). The transaction closed on March 1, 2021.

Tailwind Capital is a middle-market private equity firm focused on growth-oriented investments in targeted sectors within technology and business services, healthcare, and industrial services. Tailwind partners with experienced management teams and entrepreneurs to transform businesses through organic growth initiatives, acquisitions, and operational and strategic investments. Since inception, Tailwind has managed $3.7 billion of committed equity capital and has invested in 46 portfolio companies and over 125 add-on acquisitions.

Headquartered in Phoenix, ISSA is a premier e-learning platform for the fitness and wellness industry. For more than 30 years, ISSA has been committed to providing the highest-quality certification program by merging its training experience with practical applied sciences to help people achieve their goals and generate meaningful work. ISSA offers more than 20 specialized fitness and wellness certifications with over 8,000 established employer relationships. Each year, ISSA educates thousands of professionals and enthusiasts across a broad set of disciplines, including personal training, yoga, health coaching, nutrition, cycling, and strength and conditioning. To date, ISSA has trained more than 400,000 students and placed personal trainers in 163 countries, all while continuing to develop greater access to opportunities that promote a healthier world.

“Quite simply, we help people succeed in fitness and wellness, which leads to healthier outcomes for our members and their clients. We do this by providing quality education and certification, enhancing knowledge, and advancing employment potential. This partnership with Tailwind helps us to execute on our mission to connect passionate fitness professionals around the world to the meaningful work of helping others achieve their goals,” said Andrew Wyant, CEO of ISSA. “Tailwind is an ideal partner who shares our vision of becoming the leading platform in the industry through continued innovation, investments in content, and strategic acquisitions. This is a great step for ISSA, our members, and their clients.”

Rick Willett, Tailwind Operating Executive and Executive Chairman of ISSA, added, “We were impressed not only with ISSA’s revenue growth, which averaged nearly 50% over the past three years, but also the consistently strong feedback from members on their exceptional experience and outcomes. We are quite excited to partner with Andrew Wyant and the ISSA leadership team to further expand the breadth of ISSA’s platform.”

“We are thrilled to support the next phase of growth at ISSA,” said Daniel Bise, Tailwind Managing Director. “As we learned more about ISSA’s success through its culture of serving others and history of helping clients achieve healthier outcomes, it was clear that the company has much greater potential. With Tailwind’s investment, ISSA will accelerate investments in its next-generation technology platform and proprietary content while expanding its reach within the fitness and wellness community.”

Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial advisor to Tailwind. This transaction highlights Houlihan Lokey’s broad sector expertise advising financial sponsors on the acquisitions of training and education companies.