Felt Bicycles bought by Pierer Mobility, North America expansion targeted

Felt Bicycles has been acquired by Pierer Mobilty, better known as the Austrian parent group to KTM motorcycles, but also as one of Europe’s faster growing e-Bike businesses.

The change of hands shuffles Felt’s ownership once again with the brand having only been taken on by the French Rossignol Groupe in February of 2017.

Pierer is the parent to electric bike labels Husqvarna, R Raymon, and GasGas. It is not however the parent to KTM Fahrrad, the branded business for bicycles and e-Bikes, as carried in the UK by Fli Distribution. As a whole, Pierer has annual revenues north of €1.5 billion.

Stefan Pierer, CEO PIERER Mobility AG said of the buyout: “The acquisition of Felt Bicycles fits perfectly with the overall strategy of PIERER E-Bikes – that of becoming a global player in the field of two-wheel mobility, with both electric and non-electric bikes, across all cycling categories. With Felt we are able to expand our bicycle portfolio and also strongly enter the North American market with an established, high-performance brand. The company is also heavily involved in competition, which brings an extra attraction for us.”

The acquisition consists of three components: the purchase of the brand assets, business assets in Europe and in North America as well as the integration of the global workforce into PIERER E-Bikes GmbH’s team structure.

Rossignol also recently divested the Time Sport business, selling the frame factory and IP on to the founder of Allied Cycle Works in America. Shortly after SRAM bought the pedal business from the French group. Rossignol apparently plans to launch its own-label of electric bikes in 2022.

Founded in 1991, Felt Bicycles has a reputation for producing high-spec bikes for the road, triathlon, track, gravel, cyclocross and adventure segments. Its bikes have been ridden to Olympic Gold success and Grand Tour stage wins.