Accell Group clears hurdle for sale to Dutech Group
Accell Group, owner of Haibike, Winora, Lapierre, Raleigh, XLC, Ghost and others, has cleared one of a number of hurdles on its path for potential acquisition by Singapore’s Dutech Group.
The German Federal Cartel Office this week OK’d the acquisition which – should the purchase complete – bring a swathe of bike brands under ownership by Dutech. Dutech offers bicycles and eBikes under the brands Prophete, Kreidler, vsf fahrradmanufaktur, Rex, and eBike manufaktur. Accell’s brands include Haibike, GHOST, WINORA, Batavus, SPARTA, KOGA, Lapierre, and Raleigh, as well as cargo bikes under the brands Babboe and Carqon.
It has been confirmed to CIN that the filing with the authorities was a procedural step as Accell is actively involved in an M&A process. A potential business combination has been discussed with Dutech, hence the filings, but there’s not yet an agreement between the parties at this point.
Furthermore, the transaction has to get merger clearance from the Austrian and Polish authorities.
Accell’s recent history has seen some turbulence: In February this year it signalled it was moving away from its ownership by the New York headquartered KKR investment group. KKR picked up Accell for a cool €1.56 billion in 2022, which proved difficult timing with a global cycling industry downturn around the corner, after the unprecedented highs of lockdown (which logically seem likely to have attracted KKR in the first place). Accell brought in a seasoned CEO amid difficult trading in 2023, then in 2024 secured an agreement to cut €600 million of debt. Within those difficult years, local cycling businesses were impacted like Raleigh – arguably the UK’s best known bike brand – which drastically changed business direction away from P&A and moved location, before going on to transition to Accell UK & Ireland before returning to the UK show scene at COREbike and CIN Live.
Andreas Mundt, President of the Federal Cartel Office, stated: “The merger of Dutech and Accell does not raise any competition concerns. This applies regardless of whether one considers the overall market for all bicycles or divides it into individual segments such as bicycles with and without electric motors. In any case, both companies will continue to face a sufficient number of significant competitors even after the merger.”
The German Federal Cartel Office picked out a number of brands it judged to be Dutech and Accell’s main competitors, including: “The US-based Trek with brands such as Trek, Diamant, and Electra; the Dutch PON Group with brands such as Gazelle, Kalkhoff, FOCUS, Cannondale, and Urban Arrow; and the German manufacturer CUBE.”
NOTE: This story was updated following clarification that Accell Group has not been sold to Dutech Group as of yet – details above.
