IRVINE, Calif. (BRAIN) — Rossignol Group, the French ski company, has agreed to acquire Felt Bicycles.
A purchase price was not disclosed. Rossignol said it expects the purchase to be completed within the next two months. The companies will work together to launch a new Rossignol-branded mountain bike line in 2018.
(Editor's note: please see our related article, an interview with Felt Bicycles' president, Bill Duehring, about the sale.)
Rossignol CEO Bruno Cercley said, "For 110 years, our success has been continuously built on innovation, racing and passion. From day one of our contacts with the Felt team, it became obvious we have great things to do together. Cycling is a very natural extension of Rossignol's business, given its overlap in participating geographies, consumers and distribution channels as well as complementarity in seasonality. I am truly excited to add the Felt brand and know-how to the Rossignol Group. Rossignol and Felt teams share the quest for developing the best products in the world for providing the best experiences to outdoor consumers, and we look forward to expanding our cycling business together. While we will work at continuously strengthening the Felt brand globally, we will leverage our common expertise to launch a new range of Rossignol mountain bikes during 2018."
Cercley told Reuters that the company would like to double Felt's revenues in the next five years. Reuters estimated Felt's revenues at over $60 million annually.
Felt Bicycles president Bill Duehring said, "It's never been a better time to be part of the cycling industry, with more people than ever riding bikes to achieve their personal best in competitive events, improving their health or simply spending time with their friends and family outdoors. Felt shareholders are confident that this move will accelerate the development of the brand in this growing bicycle world. I'm incredibly excited about Felt Bicycles and Rossignol joining together. If you look at both companies, we have a long history of supporting athletes, learning from our athletes and putting this knowledge into designing great cutting-edge products. With similar consumers and markets it's very exciting to think of the great things we can do together."
Rossignol acquired Time Sport in 2015. At the time, Rossignol said it was a move to counter the seasonality of the winter sports business, particulary in an era of climate change. For the same reason, Rossignol launched a fashion brand that year.
Rossignol has annual revenues of about $260 million. It produces more than a fifth of all skis sold worldwide and owns the Dynastar and Lange brands in the ski industry. It sells Look ski bindings, but not the Look bicycle brand. It also owns the Raidlight trail running brand.
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Jim Felt.
