Bike company Pon Holdings with headquarters in Amsterdam, recently acquired the U.S. based bike company Dorel Sports. Their alliance accounts for 2.5 billion euro in revenue and the acquisition was announced on October 11th 2021. This combination will showcase the biggest and strongest portfolio of emblematic and quality bike brands. Dorel Sports owns the brand Cannondale, which offers a full range of Premium bike models and a strong e-portfolio. On the American side the brand Schwinn is the most recognized in the United States holding 125 years of experience. Caloi is the market leader in Brazil and Latin America and other important brands are Mongoose and GT, both from California, representing emblematic brands in the Dirt and BMX categories.
Pon Holdings has been a leader in the bike market for 10 years, providing a worldwide portfolio with major bicycle brands. It all started in 2012 with the acquisition of Gazelle, the Netherlands brand, followed by the acquisition of Kalkoff and Focus in Germany, Cervello and Santa Cruz in the US and the Dutch Urban Arrow and BBC. The additions represented revenue of 1.5 billion euro and launched them into the topt fifth positions in the worldwide market. Pon.Bike is the leader in ebike sales and has introduced new business for renting, leasing and retail in Europe. The most representative brands of such new strategies are Swapfiets and Lease a Bike.
Success in the US market
Pon.bike has acquired a worldwide leading position with the addition of Dorel Sports, bringing a broader brand portfolio. Now it has added millions of consumers and contributed trending bike brands in different categories like Urban, Trekking, MTB and Road.
Janus Smalbraak, CEO of Pon Holdings considers biking not only healthy but critical in fighting inner-city congestion. He recently stated: "We are determined to make bikes a powerful part of mobility. We look forward to working together with the Dorel Sports people all over the world and welcome them to the Pon family.”
The e-bike market increment
Nowadays the bigger demand of electric bikes brings the opportunity for Pon Holdings to become a true leader in the world’s market, offering a complete portfolio of emblematic and high-quality bike brands in the categories of business, leisure, sports and daily use. The addition of Dorel sports aligns with a vision that brings innovation, design, knowledge and creativity to Pon.Bike. Dorel brands will benefit from the experience that Pon.Bike has in the e-bike market in addition to the big potential for growth in the US. Dorel also holds great experience in eCommerce and will hurl Pon.Bike into the European market. Currently e-commerce brings 20% of Dorel sports revenue. Now all bike lovers, including consumers, businesses and governments; can enjoy the benefits from the merging by taking advantage of substantial solutions in mobility, health and sustainability.
The transaction between Dorel Sports and Pond Holdings what's considered for $US 810 million, on a debt and cash free basis.
Dorel will use the revenue from the transaction to cover for liability and return shareholders’ capital, between other corporate transactions. The boards of both companies recommended the addition.
The deal is expected to close before the end of the first quarter of 2022 and consists of the sale of 100% of Dorel’s indirect wholly owned subsidiary company shares. Under the applicable regulation, this procedure does not require the approval of Dorel’s shareholders. The financial advisors were Lazzard and ING, and Goodmans was in charge of the legal advisory.
