The Dutch bicycle manufacturer Accell, owner of Batavus and Sparta, is being acquired by a group of investors for 1.6 billion euros. That made the company Monday known. The acquisition, led by the American investment company KKR, is expected to be completed around the summer.
Accell’s head office will remain in Heerenveen and there will be no reduction in the workforce, the company writes. At the end of 2020, Accell employed around 3,100 people. With the new shareholders, Accell will be able to grow faster worldwide, says Rob ter Haar, chairman of the company’s supervisory board.
In recent years, Accell’s turnover has grown from around 980 million at the end of 2015 to almost 1.3 billion at the end of 2020. After the acquisition, the company remains one of the market leaders. In 2017, the company discussed a takeover by another market leader, the Dutch bicycle manufacturer Pon, owner of Gazelle. After months of negotiations, Accell broke off the talks because the company thought the offer of 845 million euros was too low.
Also read: Dutch giants rule in a fragmented bicycle market