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4iiii Innovations acquires STAC Performance line of indoor trainers

Published May 7, 2019

COCHRANE, Alberta (BRAIN)  –  Cycling power meter and heart-rate monitor company 4iiii Innovations Inc. expanded its performance-measuring portfolio with the acquisition of STAC Performance indoor trainers.

The terms of the deal are confidential, 4iiii Innovations president and CEO Kip Fyfe said; it became official Tuesday.

“The STAC folks are in their happy place when they are finding disruptive ways to do things better,” Fyfe told BRAIN. “This philosophy is strongly aligned with ours at 4iiii.”

STAC Performance's CEO Andrew Buckrell agreed and added the company welcomes the creative input from 4iiii Innovations, which was founded in 2010 and developed the Precision family of crankset power meters and Viiiiva heart-rate monitor sensors.

“It opens up additional ability to join minds and spread out into territory, as well as strengthen all of our products with fresh eyes and insight,” Buckrell said. “We see eye-to-eye with them on a lot of engineering philosophies and mindset, so it’s very beneficial just from the standpoint of joining mental resources.”

The partnership began in November 2017, when both companies participated in the Cycling Canada Summit. Acquisition discussions began a year later.

“It was a mutual approach in a lot of respects,” Buckrell said. “I was in Alberta and decided to drop into their office to generally meet but also ask about investment opportunities, which is when Kip suggested the idea of an outright acquisition. From there on in, it was in the works.”

For now, no changes or updates are planned for the trainers, “but stay tuned,” said Fyfe, who didn’t disclose specifics or sales goals.

“4iiii has experienced tremendous global growth in recent years, and by introducing disruptive solutions like the ultimate indoor and outdoor training package, we expect this trend to continue,” Fyfe said.

Buckrell said STAC Performance maintained an approximate 40% year-over-year sales growth “with especially strong Halcyon smart-trainer sales, as the indoor market shifted towards Zwift and TrainerRoad solutions.”

STAC Performance debuted in 2016 after a successful Kickstarter campaign with the STAC Zero trainer, which features a “no-contact resistance mechanism” for less noise and no tire contact. It now features two additional models with built-in power measurement capabilities: the Zero Powermeter and the Zero Halcyon.

The entire STAC team will relocate from Waterloo, Ontario, to 4iiii Innovation headquarters in Cochrane, Alberta, this summer.

Kip Fyfe (left) and Andrew Buckrell.
Topics associated with this article: Mergers, Acquisitions & Investments

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