Groupe Bruxelles Lambert, one of the biggest investment companies in Europe and the largest shareholder in Adidas, has been selected as the majority shareholder for Canyon.
We reported on Canyon's search for a new investor in October and, despite attention from Carlyle Group and KKR & Co, along with buyout firms Advent International, Apax Partners, General Atlantic and Permira, GBL was today announced as the partner. We reported at the time the sale was expected to bring in up to 500 million euros ($592 million) for Canyon but no final figure has been disclosed following the release earlier today. The Financial Times reports that GBL did not offer the highest bid but Roman Arnold, the founder of the brand, chose GBL based on its "long-term investment perspective".
In the past seven years, the average growth of the German direct-sales business has been at 25 percent and in 2020, sales topped 400 million euros for the first time. Canyon says it expects the new partnership to, "accelerate the high level of innovation, expertise, technology leadership and customer service proposition" of the company while also placing a focus on "future sustainable mobility concepts".
As part of the transaction, Tony Fadell will also co-invest alongside GBL and be a member of the Advisory Board. Tony was the SVP of Apple’s iPod Division and led the teams that created the iPod and the iPhone. Arnold is to remain the largest individual shareholder of the brand with 40 percent while TSG Consumer Partners has exited its minority stake in Canyon
 | We’ve become a global, digital champion through steady success. Through technology, global expansion and sporting success, we have accomplished a lot. Now is the right time to go further on the offensive, to take advantage of all the opportunities - and they are many. That's why I'm very pleased to partner with GBL, who have convinced my team and me with their passion for our business, years of experience and long-term focus |
| Canyon has an incredible track record, a strong team and great potential. We are very happy to partner with Roman Arnold and the Canyon team. Together we want to take the success story to the next level. |
Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated (Baird) investment bank acted as an exclusive financial advisor to Canyon in the investor search. The transactions are expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2021, once the necessary regulatory approvals have been obtained.
80 Comments
I am part owner of a small business, we look after staff, look after our customers in the same kind of way trick stuff do, but we are also nothing but a dot on the landscape compared to a 400 mil turnover company where the culture just has to be different, plain and simple.
@vhdh666 - Sure, Benjou makes a lot of sense, I just know the more you grow the more difficult it is to retain the things that you find important - I can imagine it’s why the owner of YT stepped down and Jeff stepped down from Intense.
I run around in the Summertime without shoes so my toes spread back out. My little toe is no longer brutally smashed into my other little toe. I was only complaining about width.
Private equity firms can be arranged as both a limited partnership or as a publicly traded company. Technically GBL is not a "private equity firm" but an investment group that invests in a wide range of assets. In a way the OP may be correct that a company that only does PE is possibly more likely to come in and try to maximize profits whereas an investment group might be more likely to make a private equity investment then take a step back. That really just comes down to how they manage their private equity portfolio though. Regardless this purchase is most definitely a private equity investment as Canyon is a private company.
I heard from a reliable source that even when they collaborate with other brands, Adidas will spend the first two years researching if the brand they collaborate with is 100% clean. Even their complete supply chain all the way until the raw materials, even for the tiniest pieces of material used in any of its products.
For me, that makes Adidas the best (sports) clothing company and one I fully support. I hope other brands will follow their example soon.
As an aside... It's 2020 and we're in the ("information") internet age. Beginning a sentence with "I heard from a reliable source" is akin to "my cousins sisters brothers girlfriend said..."
Now if they would bring back a pair of hi-end Sidi styled shoes in their old Merckx, with the stripes at the back in the heel area.
A big company like Adidas is under the watchful eye of the rest of the world.
As for Canyon, I don't know much about them other than they sponsor the big UCI Moviestar team, and I thought they were just a mail direct company.
But they are doing really welll and are indeed one of the best companies in their industry when it comes to their social responsibility.
Even more importantly (in my opinion), because the clothing industry is really behind in this, so it's good that companies such as Adidas are making a change.
Their presence had been increased globally by their road ex-poser in with the Movistar team. The brand is now on the rise, so it is a smart business move.
Colnago which has 66 years of history was purchased early this year by Chimera Investments LLC a company based in Abu Dhabi. It upset a lot of fans, but that's the way the cookie crumbles when you have a product of some worth.
Not sure that'll be an improvement for the employees and customers...
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