BIARRITZ, France (BRAIN) Jan 23, 14:31 MT — BH Bikes has expanded into France with a company-owned subsidiary in Biarritz, a tourist beach town on the Bay of Biscayne about 10 miles from the Spanish border.
BH Bikes Francia aims to strengthen the Spanish brand’s position in the French market where the company’s racing, mountain bike and pedal-assist bikes are popular. The office will be headed by Benoit Rigamonti, former BMC manager in France.
BH, which also runs a fitness division, has branches in the U.S., China, Taiwan, Australia and Central America. The company was established in 1909 in Eibar by brothers Domingo, Juan and Cosme, or the Besitegui Hermanos (BH).
The company remains independently owned. Whether it would stay that way recently came into question when Dutch bicycle conglomerate Accell Group CEO René Takens pinpointed it as a target for acquisition in an interview with Reuters that was republished on Bike Europe’s website. BH’s management quickly refuted Takens’ claim with a company-issued statement saying there are no plans to sell the business to Accell Group or any other corporation. At that time it alluded to plans to continue global expansion plans on its own.
“As it has been doing for a long time, BH Bikes is independently focused on the development of its strategic and growth plan at the international level … BH has been operating independently for a century now and plans to continue to do so for another 100 years,” the statement read.
BH Bikes will also be available in the U.K. starting this spring.
