The bicycle industry continues to boom and is therefore increasingly targeted by investors. After the recent acquisition of Dorel Sports by the Dutch family-owned Pon Holdings group, it’s now the turn for the Dutch Accell Group to announce that a consortium led by the U.S. financial investor KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) and Accell’s major shareholder Teslin, have reached an agreement for a recommended public offer by the bidder for all issued and outstanding ordinary shares of Accell at a price of €58.00 in cash per share (cum dividend), representing a total consideration of about €1.56 billion.
Following the announcement, the value of Accell’s shares shot up by more than 24 percent on the Amsterdam stock exchange, boosting its market capitalization close to the proposed acquisition price. The price being offered represents a premium of 26 percent over the closing price on Jan. 21, a premium of 42 percent over the last three months volume-weighted average price per share, and a premium of 21 percent versus the company all-time stock price of €48.00.
Accell’s two largest shareholders, Teslin and Hoogh Blarick, support the transaction. Directly and indirectly, they hold shares of around 12 percent and 7.5 percent in the group. The company, which has been heavily restructured in recent years, most recently reported a 17 percent increase in annual sales to €1.3 billion for 2020. The operating profit (Ebit) rose by 25 percent to €75 million.
Accell Group’s assets include the bike brands Ghost, Haibike, Babboe, Batavus, Lapierre and Winora, among others. KKR is a leading global investment firm based in New York City with a long track record of investing in the consumer sector, including in mobility, with investments including Lyft, Gojek, Zwift, Boots and Wella, among many others. KKR also has a strong presence in the Netherlands, where it made other investments recently.
Tim Franks, partner and head of EMEA consumer at KKR, commented: “Accell Group’s transport and mobility solutions have been a thematic investment focus for KKR for some time, and we believe that the bicycle sector and e-bikes, in particular, will play an increasingly important role in dealing with some of the major challenges the world is facing today, whether it concerns climate change, urban mobility and connected transport or personal health. The operating environment for biking is increasingly demanding and complex from a consumer experience, supply chain, and digital capability perspective. As a global investor, we will deploy our resources to support Accell Group in realizing its full potential as a global industry leader and sustainable innovator.”
