AIMERE, Netherlands (BRAIN) — Pon Holdings, the parent company of bike brands including Santa Cruz and Cervélo, is making another bid to acquire a minority stake in Accell Group, the parent company of bike brands including Raleigh, Haibike and Diamondback.
Pon said Tuesday that is intends to offer cash for about 20 percent of the outstanding shares in Accell Group. Pon plans to offer 19 euros (about $21) per share.
Accell Group issued a news release saying it "has taken notice" of the offer and said its board will come up with a reaction in due time.
Pon said it had already reached an agreement to buy the shares in Accell currently held by Boron Investments. That would give Pon about 5.1 percent of all Accell's shares already.
Pon made a nonbinding offer to buy Accell last year that was not accepted.
Pon's offer of 19 euros per share is a 25.3 percent premium compared to the closing share price Monday. Pon said it will finance the offer with cash on hand.
Pon Holdings is one of the Netherlands' largest family-owned businesses, with nearly 13,000 employees. It's active in several markets, including automotive, construction vehicles and machinery, and the shipping industry. Its bike division, called Pon Bike, is the parent of Cervélo, Santa Cruz, Juliana, Focus, Univega (in some markets), Gazelle, Faraday, Kalkhoff and Union.
Accell Group's brands include Haibike, Winora, Batavus, Sparta, Koga, Lapierre, Ghost, Raleigh, Diamondback, Tunturi, Atala, Redline, Loekie and XLC. Accell Group and its subsidiaries employ approximately 3,000 people in 18 countries worldwide. In 2017, Accell Group sold about 1.3 million bicycles and recorded sales of more than 1 billion euros ($1.13 billion).
