David Beckham has sued his former Beverly Hills neighbor and friend Mark Wahlberg over an alleged $US10 million ($16 million) loss in the embattled Aussie fitness franchise F45.
The former England football captain and the Hollywood actor made a deal in 2020, with Beckham becoming one of F45’s celebrity ambassadors ahead of its public float on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) the following year.
“I’ve been a fan of the F45 franchise and training model since being introduced by my friend, Mark Wahlberg,” Beckham said after becoming a global brand ambassador for F45.
However, the deal has descended into lawsuits in a row over shares in the company that Beckham claims to have been promised.
Wahlberg was a significant investor in F45 at the time of Beckham’s agreement and a director of the fitness group.
As part of the deal, Beckham shared pictures of himself on his social media working out at the company’s locations and using F45-branded fitness equipment. The posts have since been deleted.
F45 started with one gym in Australia in 2013. It developed the global franchise on the back of 45-minute functional, high-intensity interval and circuit training classes.
Beckham alleges he lost more than $US10 million when F45 stocks he was promised were withheld until after the company’s share price plummeted.
Beckham’s firm DB Ventures Ltd (DVBL) alleges that shares in the company were promised to be shared in early 2022, but they were not released until months later – by which time the price had gone from about $US12 a share to $US3 a share.
The footballer’s lawyers now claim this delay cost him millions in potential profit.
F45 struck multi-million dollar endorsement deals with other celebrities such as basketballer Magic Johnson, Aussie golfer Greg Norman and supermodel Cindy Crawford.
They were deemed crucial to the fitness group getting its name familiar with US gym enthusiasts.
“The company disputes these claims and intends to vigorously defend itself,” F45 said in its financial statements last year when Beckham and Norman first took legal action against the group.
The most lucrative celebrity endorsement deal belonged to Wahlberg. He received 2.74 million share rights, which vested with the IPO at a valuation of just under $US44 million, and sold more than $US10 million worth of stock in the year following the float.
Wahlberg was also part of a group that invested $US100 million in F45 back in 2019.
Wahlberg and his business partners sold $US25 million worth of shares at $US16 each ahead of F45’s NYSE public debut, but also offloaded 3.2 million shares to Aussie fund manager L1 Capital in 2020.
F45’s stock was struggling within months of its public debut and was barely above the $US10 mark by year’s end. What followed in 2022 proved to be disastrous for investors as F45 was forced to slash its earnings guidance in July, and make workers redundant as the debt it was relying on to fuel franchisee expansion dried up.
Shares dropped to a low of $US1.35 just a year after its stock market debut. The company was ejected from the NYSE last year, with its stock last changing hands for just US15¢.
Financial accounts released in October last year reported that it made a loss of more than $US370 million over the previous two financial years. The company has not given any financial updates since that time.
Beckham’s DVBL is seeking damages directly from Wahlberg’s investment group – which owns his stake in F45 – as well as F45’s Australian founders, Adam Gilchrist (not the cricketer) and Rob Deutsch.
Wahlberg and his codefendants claim the allegations of “fraudulent conduct” are baseless and have asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed, according to documents seen by The Sun.
The Telegraph has contacted representatives for Wahlberg and Beckham for comment. This masthead has also contacted Gilchrist and Deutsch for comment.
Beckham is not the only party pursuing legal action against F45, its founders and Wahlberg. F45 investors have launched a class action against the company as well as current and former board members including Wahlberg and Gilchrist.
Pledge Capital is the lead plaintiff and US law firm Labaton Sucharow is its legal representative. The investors allege misleading statements were made by the group ahead of its disastrous public float in July 2021.
with The Telegraph, London
