Accell sells Izip brand

[Dewey]

BRAIN report Accell, the Dutch company that owns the Raleigh Electric, Haibike, and Izip ebike brands in North America, has sold off Izip to a California private equity firm Regent L.P. Accell have signed an agreement with Regent to distribute in North America for 2 years the Raleigh Electric and Haibike brands which Accell will continue to own. No details on whether the Raleigh Electric and Izip brands will continue to offer parallel lines of rebranded ebikes, or what impact the sale of the business has on staff of the Raleigh Electric, Haibike, and Izip divisions at the Currie Technologies Electric Bike Competence Center (EBCC) facility in Simi Valley, CA.

In Europe, Accell Group own several bicycle/ebike brands including Haibike (Germany), Winora (Germany), Babboe (Netherlands), Batavus (Netherlands), Sparta (Netherlands), Koga (Netherlands), Lapierre (France), Ghost (Germany), Tunturi (Finland), and Atala (Italy).

 

[Deleted member 4210]

I had heard Accell was seeking to pull out of North America entirely, so this sell off of Izip would seem to indicate they are on their way. Is Raleigh next ?
Accell reported some pretty heavy losses for NA operations, and I believe they've had some on going issues for several years figuring out how to be profitable here. Maybe the tariffs nudged their decision to just get out ?

 

[Johnny]

I hope they don't leave NA.

Honestly Raleigh/Izip and Haibike seem to give by far the best bang for the money compared to other brands.
In my experience the build quality their mid drive offerings are on par if not better than the ones from mainstream brands like Trek, Giant etc. and the smaller ebike specific brands like Bulls etc. yet they are very well priced, usually 1-2K less for the same components.

It is really a shame that they are not where they should be.

 

[jcanavera]

I rode a Raleigh Detour while up in Petoskey Michigan. Was very impressed with the bike. Probably would have bought one until I called Raleigh and found that sales noted that the Detour's were out of stock and not expected to become available until March of 2020. Way too long to wait and I felt that the bike which was at my price ceiling would probably go up by next spring thus pushing it out of consideration.

 

[Dewey]

An article in Cycling Industry News reports the Accell reported financial losses also account for the "intended sale of the US assets of Beeline Bikes", this was the fulfillment/distribution network for Accell NA brands to independent bike shops and direct-to-customer sales via a mobile mechanic franchise/van network similar to velofix. It is unclear at this time if Regent are acquiring Beeline or planning on setting up their own distribution channels.

 

[Deleted member 803]

Sorry, I did not see this post prior to posting the same. I have a link to the press release on my post if anyone wants to read it.

 

[JohnT]

Recently, my wife told me she heard the Simi Valley office was finally going to be shut down. I’m not sure where she heard it, but we live in Simi, so it could have been anywhere.

 

[Ken M]

Both brands try to have a unique bike for every micro-niche. Then they add multiple sizes and colors for each of those models and they end up with so many skus it's impossible to be profitable. I have a couple Haibikes and I really like them but I got them during one of the end of year clearance sales that are the result of all the skus.

 

[Danno_03]

I rode a Raleigh Detour while up in Petoskey Michigan. Was very impressed with the bike. Probably would have bought one until I called Raleigh and found that sales noted that the Detour's were out of stock and not expected to become available until March of 2020. Way too long to wait and I felt that the bike which was at my price ceiling would probably go up by next spring thus pushing it out of consideration.

J Canavera - Bycycle Village in Saginaw MI has a new Raleigh Detour for sale at a very attractive price, give them a call, ask for Fred