After 76 years of existence, the Dijon company Les cycles Lapierre could become American. Bought by the Dutch group Accell in 1996, it was the subject of a takeover bid by the investment fund KKR.
Is one of the jewels of Dijon’s economic fabric preparing to go under the American flag?
Lapierre Cycles, founded in 1946, have been part of the Dutch Accell group since 1996. This company is currently the subject of a friendly takeover bid by the American investment fund KKR, which was already a shareholder. For the current director of Cycles Lapierre, Thierry Cornec, this is good news:
“Instead of being subject to the volatility of the stock market, we will be part of a private investment capital which will give us greater investment capacities for the future.“
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The KKR investment fund is a fund that invests in “companies that are developing in a very competitive market”. At the end of the takeover bid, in June 2022, the fund should have bought all the shares of the Accell cycle group, the parent company of Lapierre Cycles at a value of 58 euros, i.e. with a premium of 26% compared to the January 2022 price.
Stay Leading
Specialized in high-end bicycles, invoiced between 600 and 10,000 euros, Lapierre Cycles are always on the lookout for new investors. The company regularly launches new models.
The future investor validated our strategy.
Thierry Cornec, managing director of the Dijon company Les Cycles Lapierre
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In addition to their models aimed at professional athletes, Lapierre has developed a folding mountain bike for travel since 2006 and electrically assisted mountain bikes since 2013. These are market segments where demand is very strong and which are of great interest to KKR, as Thierry explains. Cornec:
“The bicycle is developing a lot. To remain the leader in electric bicycles in Europe, the Accell group needs stronger investments.”
A Dijon anchorage
The company Lapierre Cycles produces 100,000 bicycles per year, around 25% of which are in Dijon. The rest is assembled in factories in Europe (Germany, Netherlands, Hungary, Turkey). The Côte-d’Orien production site employs 120 people.
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With about ten recruitments per year, the cycle company continues its economic development.
Among the projects announced, the official release a new mountain bike and the renewed partnership with Groupama since 2018, on the Grand Tours and in particular the Tour de France in July with Thibaut Pinot.
Extended deadlines
With a very high technicality, Lapierre bicycles require the assembly of a hundred different parts. It can take more than an hour for very technical and expensive models.
Between the increase in demand (+20% in 2020) and the extension of delivery times due to the Covid crisis, some bikes may require between 3 and 6 months of waiting. It is the price of success.
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