Accell Group

Accell Group is a Dutch bicycle manufacturer. He owns the bicycle brands Atala, Babboe, Batavus, Carraro Cicli, Ghost, Haibike, KOGA, Lapierre, Loekie, Nishiki, Raleigh, Sparta, Torker, Tunturi, Xas, WinICHL.

History

2022: KKR buys Accell Group for €1.56 billion

At the end of January 2022, it became known that the KKR investment fund would buy the Dutch bicycle manufacturer Accell Group for €1.56 billion. The investment fund will buy back the company's shares at a price of €58 apiece. They plan to close the deal at the end of the second or early third quarter of 2022, as noted in Bloomberg.

The board of the Accell Group, which includes CEO Ton Anbik and CFO Ruben Baldeu, will continue to lead the Accell Group, while the board unanimously agreed to accept the offer. The largest shareholders of the Accell Group, Teslin and Hoogh Blarick, support the deal, as Bloomberg notes, they own 10.8% and 7.5% of the shares, respectively.

KKR buys Accell Group for €1.56 billion

With Accell Group, the consortium intends to further develop the Netherlands as the world capital of cycling, relying on the company's leading position in the European e-bike market and continuing to develop its strong brands. Investments in the Accell Group will build on KKR's significant investment expertise in the Netherlands. KKR has the capacity to support high-quality Dutch companies to accelerate their domestic and global growth ambitions and overcome difficulties similar to those faced by the Accell Group in the competitive global bicycle market, said Daan Knottenbelt, partner and head of Benelux at KKR.

KKR's investment track record is mainly focused on the consumer sector and includes investments in mobility, including Trainline, Lyft, Gojek, Zwift, Boots and Wella. KKR intends to make the company private, while the new owners say that this will allow the Accell Group to accelerate the implementation of its strategy until 2024 through further investment in long-term strategic growth initiatives, as well as mitigate problems caused by supply chain instability and rising inflation.

Investors began to invest in bicycle manufacturers during pandemics coronavirus infection, as people began to use bicycles more often instead of public ones, and transport European authorities build more bike paths. That is why To Europe electric bicycles are in high demand.^[1]

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