Online Brand Canyon’s Sales Top $650 Million – With Huge Buyout Rumoured

German based global manufacturer Canyon saw its global sales grow by 30% to 400 million Euros (A$656 million) for its most recent financial year.

Canyon, which only sells online, has had a Melbourne based Australian office for several years. Canyon ships customer orders to Australia individually via air freight and does not hold stock in Australia. This strategy makes it problematic to sell ebikes here as the batteries cannot be shipped via air.

Meanwhile Canyon’s founder Roman Arnold is stepping down as CEO. He will be replaced by Armin Landgraf who was previously global CEO of Pon.Bike which owns Cervélo, Focus, Santa Cruz and a range of other brands.

Arnold said in his new role on the advisory board he will support management and help set the company’s strategic course. “I have been riding the big chainring for over 30 years. I am now shifting down a gear, but I am doing well on the long distance,” he said.

Landgraf indicated that his transition to CEO was ‘logical and long-planned.’

“We will continue to focus on the development of new technologies and products, a continuous expansion of our e-bike portfolio, the expansion of our service offering and the strengthening of our global brand presence.”

Meanwhile on 21st October, global financial media site Bloomberg reported that two huge venture capitalists were looking to acquire Canyon in a deal that would value the company at over 500 million Euros (A$830 million).

The interest is coming from multiple investors including two of the biggest, the Carlyle Group and KKR.

The Carlyle Group describes itself as “one of the world’s largest and most diversified global investment firms, in charge of US$221 billion (A$309 billion) in assets across four core business segments and spanning 389 investment vehicles”.

As we have reported in a separate story, KKR has already dipped a toe in the cycling world, leading a US$450 million (A$630 million) investment round for virtual cycling platform Zwift.

Part of this article was first published in Cycling Industry News (UK)

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