SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.— U.S. industry veteran Paul Lew has been named CEO of the newly restructured Edco cycling company, now based in Arizona.
The historic brand — it was formed in 1867 in Couvet, Switzerland, and began making bike parts in 1902 — was purchased about ten years ago by Rob van Hoek and partners and has been operating as Edco Engineering BV in the Netherlands until recently.
In early summer, a major supplier filed a bankruptcy suit against Edco Engineering BV for failure to meet its financial obligations. This filing was approved by the Netherlands government in August and the company's assets were subsequently purchased by Best Top Industrial. Lew described Best Top as a well-established composite manufacturer in the sporting goods sector, whose corporate offices are in New Zealand. Janey Tiernan, a New Zealander currently based in Sydney, Australia, is the chair for the private equity team behind the new Edco, Lew said.
Lew, best known as owner of Lew Composites and then director of technology and innovation at Reynolds Cycling, became involved with Edco in early 2016. He left Reynolds to set up a U.S.-owned company that licensed the Edco brand from Edco Engineering BV.
Lew's U.S. company was completely separate from the now-bankrupt European company. Although it used many of the same suppliers, it bought and paid for its own inventory and was not in debt to any of them, Lew said. Lew was in charge of product development globally for Edco.
Lew shut down the U.S. operation in May 2017 but remained in touch with the New Zealand executives, who asked him to consult with them as they relaunched Edco after acquiring the brand through the bankruptcy. In August, soon after the bankruptcy became public, they invited Lew to join the company as CEO.
He told BRAIN that the new EDCO company will now be headquartered in Scottsdale. Lew and Tiernan plan to negotiate new contracts with former and potential customers at both the Eurobike and Interbike shows.
Lew also remains a vice chairman of the WFSGI wheel committee and planned to attend that committee's meeting at Eurobike.
