Compagnie des Alpes has acquired an initial 33.9% stake in Padel City, a leading padel centre operator in Germany. The company has options to increase its stake to 75% in early 2028 and to reach 100% ownership by the end of 2030.
Founded in 2022, PadelCity is Germany's leading operator of padel centres, with 24 centres across Germany, up from 17 at the end of 2025. The company is also expanding internationally, particularly into Poland and Austria.
With a development pipeline extending to 2030, PadelCity aims to open an additional 20 centres by the end of 2026, bringing its total to 350 padel courts. PadelCity aims for around €50 million in annual revenue by the end of 2026.
Besides managing padel centres, it has built expertise in marketing and branding. This includes organising events like the “One Point Challenge” tournament.
According to the transaction terms, PadelCity’s founders will stay shareholders until the end of 2030, ensuring they remain closely aligned with value creation goals as PadelCity's growth plan is executed.
A growing market
Padel is rapidly gaining popularity in Germany, similar to France's growth over the past three to four years. By 2025, Germany had about 1,400 courts, with one court per 60,000 residents, four times lower than France's rate of one court per 15,000. France had only one court per 45,000 at the end of 2022.
The German market benefits from high occupancy, competitive prices, and a sizable addressable market with about 85 million.
Additionally, the German padel centre market is still quite fragmented. By the end of 2025, the five biggest operators accounted for only 20% of all courts, with market leader PadelCity comprising nearly 10% alone.
Beyond Germany, PadelCity is expanding into Austria and Poland.
In France, the Urban Group, which joined Compagnie des Alpes in 2024, is the leader in 5-a-side football and a co-leader in padel, with a network of centres in major cities.
By the end of 2026, Urban will operate 43 centres, including locations in Portugal and Luxembourg, offering 295 five-a-side football pitches and 155 padel courts—more than tripling its padel footprint since the acquisition.
The combination of Urban Group and PadelCity will position Compagnie des Alpes as Europe's leading provider of urban sports, focusing on five-a-side football and padel, with operations across France, Germany, Luxembourg, Portugal, Poland, and Austria.
Joining two market leaders
Dominique Thillaud, CEO of Compagnie des Alpes, says: "With this 33.9% investment in PadelCity, together with the option to acquire full control over time, Compagnie des Alpes is securing a strategic position in the fast-growing padel market in Germany and Eastern Europe.
"By participating in the expansion of this market, we are further advancing our ambition to become the leading operator of five-a-side football and padel centres in Europe.
"This transaction also strengthens our presence in the leisure sector in Germany and Austria, two countries where we already operate leisure parks, while providing us with an entry into Poland, an extremely dynamic market that remains significantly underpenetrated.
"We are continuing to develop these businesses with a clear focus on creating shareholder value. In just four years, from 2025 to 2029, Compagnie des Alpes will have acquired and expanded these activities to a scale expected to generate nearly €65 million in consolidated IFRS EBITDA.
"Since 2024, Urban Group has delivered strong growth and, like PadelCity, is expected to accelerate further through 2029."
François Fassier, director of the leisure parks division of Compagnie des Alpes, adds: "Through PadelCity, we are delighted to support the development of padel in Germany, as well as in Poland and Austria, a geographic footprint that is highly complementary to that of Urban Group.
"PadelCity is a company we have followed closely since its inception. We have been impressed by the commitment and vision of its founders, the momentum of its growth trajectory, the professionalism of its teams, the quality of its customer offering, its marketing expertise and the depth of its development pipeline.
"Acquiring a stake in PadelCity, together with the opportunity to take control of the company at a later stage, will foster a strong partnership between Urban Group and PadelCity and pave the way for the emergence of a true European leader in five-a-side football and padel.
"With Urban Group, urban and peri-urban leisure sports activities practised on a regular basis have already established a natural place within Compagnie des Alpes, and more specifically within our Leisure Parks Division. PadelCity provides us with an opportunity to accelerate this strategy."
In December, following the presentation by Compagnie des Alpes of its annual results for the 2024/25 financial year, the operator announced plans to transform Belantis in Germany into Parc Astérix Germany.
Charlotte Coates is blooloop's editor. She is from Brighton, UK and previously worked as a librarian. She has a strong interest in arts, culture and information and graduated from the University of Sussex with a degree in English Literature. Charlotte can usually be found either with her head in a book or planning her next travel adventure.
