JEDDAH, 18 March 2008 — Shababco Enterprises founder Makarem Sobhi Batterjee plans to open 30 “Gold’s Gym” branches across the Middle East at a cost of $300 million.
The company boasts the largest branch of the globally recognized American brand of gym in the Kingdom.
Batterjee, who was the only Saudi among 11 Arabs nominated by the Davos World Economic Forum as a young global leader, told the forum of Young Global Leaders in Geneva recently that his company was totally dedicated to elevating the lifestyle of Arab youth by providing them innovative services and facilities that could empower and globalize the society with projects in retail, finance, real estate and education that are estimated to cost $3 billion and expected to be completed by 2020. “All these projects will be helping young people of the Arab world to lead a meaningful and constructive life,” he told a press conference here on Sunday night.
The Gold’s Gym was established in California in 1965 and won the “Best Gym in the World Award” for 2006. “This gym has started a fitness revolution across the Kingdom to help empower the youth,” he said.