CHAVANOD, France (BRAIN) — Groupe Rossignol has announced the sale of the TIME bike and pedal business to WhaTTfornow, a four-year-old e-bike brand.
Rossignol said it would concentrate its bike market activities on its Felt and Rossignol bike brands instead of Time, which has failed to reach sales goals since its acquisition in 2016.
A spokesman for Time's U.S. operations said that Time pedals and bikes will continue to be available through them at least until the sale is completed this summer.
According to the release, the sale includes all TIME's activities, including the production of carbon frames and forks in Gajary in Slovakia, as well as the design and marketing of pedals manufactured in the Rossignol factory in Nevers, France. Rossignol will apparently retain the Nevers factory and manufacture the pedals for WhatTTfornow.
"Despite the significant investments dedicated to Time since its takeover in 2016, the brand has not managed to reach the critical size allowing it to register sustainably within the scope of the Rossignol Group," reads a press release released Friday.
"Beyond the financial and social guarantees provided by the buyer, Rossignol was seduced by the will of WhaTTfornow, and its founder François Guers, to perpetuate and develop the Time brand. A very innovative start-up in the new generation e-bike, WhaTTfornow is more generally in line with the desire of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region to consolidate and develop a “Bike for the Future” sector, to which Rossignol will support, through its cycles activity."
In March BRAIN reported that Rossignol was considering restructuring, closing or selling the Time bike business.
