After a joint press release by Accell Group N.V. and Sprint BidCo B.V. we understand that the specialist buyout firm KKR has put together a new consortium and successfully taken over Accell group after an unconditional offer was agreed. The deal has been valued at US$1.66 billion.

The sale, which up until one week before confirmation was in doubt, has gone ahead, despite a condition stating 80% of shares need to be tendered for a deal to be made, the consortium accepted an offer at 77.8% of the shares. Each share was tendered at €58.

Any shareholders holding out were able to sell their shares at the offer price until the end of the post-acceptance period, June 23rd, 2022. The consortium stated that the terms were to be the “best and final price payable under the offer.”

The e-bike industry has been on a huge rise recently, partly thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, so the latest major deal is an indicator to a continued growth in the future. The Dutch themselves bought 900,000 new bikes in 2021 with just over half being electric, according to industry bodies RAI Vereniging and Bovag.

This deal is just the latest in high-profile deals. Dutch bike manufacturer Van Moof has recently been developing its U.S. market, with a funding of US$128 million from Hillhouse Capital to assist.

Other brands under the Accell cycling banner include Haibike, Winora, Ghost, Koga, Lapierre, Babboe, Carqon, and its parts and accessories brand, XLC.

KKR and the Accell board both believe that Accell will be better positioned under private ownership.