Aug 14 (Reuters) - Mindbody ClassPass is aiming to go

public in the next 12-18 months and has retained Goldman Sachs ( GS )

as its lead banker, the CEO of the fitness and wellness

marketplace told Reuters in an interview.

California-based Mindbody, which went public in 2015, was

taken private by Vista Equity Partners for $1.9 billion in 2019.

In 2021, it acquired ClassPass, a subscription-based workout

platform, valuing the combined entity at about $3 billion then.

"We are a story of two different businesses under one

umbrella, both of which are growing, both of which are

profitable, setting us up for an eventual IPO," CEO Fritz Lanman

said.

"We have Goldman ... but we haven't chosen the second and

third leads yet," he added.

In its last funding round in 2021, the company raised $500

million through a strategic convertible debt investment led by

Sixth Street.

Together now known as Mindbody ClassPass, the company is

expecting to achieve a 20% growth in revenue for 2024 touching

around $500 million, Lanman said, adding that ClassPass is 65%

bigger than pre-Covid.

The company is seeing a strong recovery post-pandemic with

increased demand for yoga and in-person fitness sessions.

Moreover, ClassPass application is leveraging artificial

intelligence to help customers book salon and spa sessions.

Lanman said the company is keeping an eye on how IPOs have

been performing, with the cash from the offering to be mainly

for shareholder liquidity and mergers and acquisitions.

Vista Equity is the biggest shareholder of the business

along with all ClassPass venture capitalists including L

Catterton, Temasek, General Catalyst and Thrive Capital

continuing to be stakeholders as the business is compounding

really fast for them, he added.