Tenneco Inc. Buys Öhlins Racing
With the expansion from gravity into the trail and enduro market, Öhlins Racing seems ready to expand into the larger OEM market.
Kenth Öhlin founded Öhlins Racing and forged it into a world-renowned high performance suspension maker. Today, Öhlin announced the sale of his company to Tenneco Inc, an international automotive conglomerate that also owns two other suspension makers, Monroe and Rancho. Reportedly, Öhlin will stay on the board of directors of Öhlins Racing and is a minority shareholder. Tenneco also stated in the press release that they plan to retain the staff at Öhlins, so we can assume that the transition will be seamless from a customer's perspective.
Specialized has been a partner with Öhlins since 2016. No news yet about how the Tenneco acquisition will affect that relationship.
This is the second time that Tenneco has made a bid to enter the mountain bike and motorcycle suspension game. Its first foray into mountain bike was the purchase of Marzocchi in 2008. Tenneco lost interest in the two wheel market, however, and spun the Italian brand off of its acquisition list shortly after in 2015. Marzocchi is now owned by Fox Racing.
Öhlins Racing products are assembled by hand in their factory near Stockholm.
In recent history, Tenneco's strategy has been to acquire popular brands, primarily in the high performance motorsports arena, and then strive to expand their product ranges and sales numbers. No secret that Öhlins Racing has been working overtime to produce a more comprehensive range of mountain bike suspension products, so this could be good timing for a large influx of capital and a global marketing plan for the Swedish manufacturer.
The official press release is included below:
Kenth Öhlins Sells Öhlins Racing
Kenth Öhlin today announced an agreement to sell a majority share in Öhlins Racing AB to Tenneco Inc. Öhlins will become a subsidiary of Tenneco, joining one of the largest global multi-line, multi-brand OEM and aftermarket companies in the world.
Öhlins Racing has been an integral part of the motorsport, motorcycle and automotive industry since 1976, when Kenth Öhlin founded the company and created his first legendary motocross shock. Since then, Öhlins have been setting global industry standards by offering state-of-the-art suspension technology to racing teams, OEM partners and aftermarket. With distribution in 50 countries and manufacturing facilities in Europe and Asia, Öhlins has managed to combine global reach with world class industry knowledge.
With the acquisition of Öhlins, Tenneco will enhance their position as leading global designers, manufacturers and distributors of ride performance products and technologies. Öhlins will be a subsidiary of Tenneco and keep both its strong brand and team. Kenth Öhlin will continue to be part of Öhlins and provide continuity in strategic and technological development. He will retain a minority interest in the company and serve on the board of Öhlins.
Kenth Öhlin comments “Together, Öhlins and Tenneco will be a very strong constellation. After considering the strengths of both companies, I made the hardest decision of my life — to sell my life’s work. I am absolutely convinced that we are going to develop very positively in the future, and that Öhlins will benefit from the opportunities that will now arise due to Tenneco’s entrance.”
Öhlins’ strong position as a technology company with high-end suspension for motorcycle, automotive and mountain bike will complement and further strengthen Tenneco’s advanced ride performance portfolio.
Brian Kesseler, co-CEO of Tenneco, comments “Öhlins’ technology team will allow us to rapidly grow our premium product offerings for current and future customers, as well as help us win a larger share of business in developing mobility markets.”
Henrik Johansson, CEO of Öhlins, comments “Tenneco will help grow our business on a global scale. Tenneco and Öhlins have been working together for 20 years, delivering outstanding products for the intelligent suspension market. This is the beginning of something even bigger.”
The acquisition is expected to close in early 2019, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
Öhlins Racing has been an integral part of the motorsport, motorcycle and automotive industry since 1976, when Kenth Öhlin founded the company and created his first legendary motocross shock. Since then, Öhlins have been setting global industry standards by offering state-of-the-art suspension technology to racing teams, OEM partners and aftermarket. With distribution in 50 countries and manufacturing facilities in Europe and Asia, Öhlins has managed to combine global reach with world class industry knowledge.
With the acquisition of Öhlins, Tenneco will enhance their position as leading global designers, manufacturers and distributors of ride performance products and technologies. Öhlins will be a subsidiary of Tenneco and keep both its strong brand and team. Kenth Öhlin will continue to be part of Öhlins and provide continuity in strategic and technological development. He will retain a minority interest in the company and serve on the board of Öhlins.
Kenth Öhlin comments “Together, Öhlins and Tenneco will be a very strong constellation. After considering the strengths of both companies, I made the hardest decision of my life — to sell my life’s work. I am absolutely convinced that we are going to develop very positively in the future, and that Öhlins will benefit from the opportunities that will now arise due to Tenneco’s entrance.”
Öhlins’ strong position as a technology company with high-end suspension for motorcycle, automotive and mountain bike will complement and further strengthen Tenneco’s advanced ride performance portfolio.
Brian Kesseler, co-CEO of Tenneco, comments “Öhlins’ technology team will allow us to rapidly grow our premium product offerings for current and future customers, as well as help us win a larger share of business in developing mobility markets.”
Henrik Johansson, CEO of Öhlins, comments “Tenneco will help grow our business on a global scale. Tenneco and Öhlins have been working together for 20 years, delivering outstanding products for the intelligent suspension market. This is the beginning of something even bigger.”
The acquisition is expected to close in early 2019, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
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TC: Hello, KO? TC here. Have you ever considered selling out and taking it easy for the rest of your life?
"As Chief Executive Officer at TENNECO INC, Brian J. Kesseler made $4,377,356 in total compensation. Of this total $970,479 was received as a salary, $944,912 was received as a bonus, $0 was received in stock options, $2,177,555 was awarded as stock and $284,410 came from other types of compensation. This information is according to proxy statements filed for the 2017 fiscal year."
Fox Racing to acquire Ohlins from Tenneco.
Hope this isn't history repeating itself..
Also, I know a few of the guys at Marzocchi and the suggestion that "all the good guys left" is nonsense - Bryson Martin and his associates left, and yes they were a big part of what Marzocchi was (although that is a can of worms I don't want to open), but there were still good people left at Marzocchi until the very end and it sucked seeing the company collapse around them.
With Keith staying on board maybe some of his mad scientist ideas can actually have some consistent quality manufacturing with Tenneco's $$$ and experience.
Makes my decision to spec my new Knolly Fugitive LT with a MRP Ribbon Air fork look even better. Just chatted with MRP yesterday regarding various fork oil weights and how they'll change the fork's characteristics. Good luck doing that with Ohlins after Tenneco takes over... hopefully not...
"Tenneco's strategy has been to acquire popular brands, primarily in the high performance motorsports arena, and then strive to expand their product ranges and sales numbers". Which means - make the same shit as everyone else while cutting corners, quality (streamlining production) and then marketing the product better, in order to make the larger conglomerate more money. The customer? Who cares about what they want! I'm not saying this will definitely happen, it's just the pattern and history of what companies like this do. It's not like the execs are sitting around saying "Hey, we love what this company is doing, lets support them and help them do it better"... no no, it's much more likely their analysts have said, "hey, here's a company with really high quality products with huge brand recognition and good will... we could easily cut quite a bit of quality, streamline the product offerings, stop trying to be so "different" and squeeze a lot of cash out until we sell it off once we're done."
They purchased Marzocchi and ran it into the ground.
Now is Ohlins , what's next, Manitou?
Wait, Manitou sucks already.
But - that leaves room for the next small entrepreneur suspension company to bloom.
As far as visionary statements go that one could use a little work.
In the car world, King Shocks are where it's at. Hands down.
What "car" do you have with King shocks?
I have a question though, you sold a small bike company once, a decision I am sure you didn’t come to lightly. I am sure there were factors besides a big payout that you were thinking about at the time. What other insight do you have about what might have been going through his mind when Öhlins was sold?
On a different, but related note, I have wanted to ask you for a long time about what happened to Mantis in the end? After you sold it? They were so cool for their time. I would love to collect one.
I know nothing about Ohlins history, but a quick google search shows Kenth Ohlin who is the founder and had 95% ownership is 67 years old. This sale is purely him cashing out. A company like Ohlins already has a complete corporate structure in place. If Tenneco just stays out of the way then nothing changes. If they try to maximize profits by moving production or cost cutting on quality then it all goes to hell in a hand basket.
I also have to admit that I am always a little starstruck by having an actual conversation with someone like RC
I hope they will have the iconic characteristics of Ohlins(for example forging、CNC,Titanium nitride layer.....)
At last, I hope Ohlins fork can be as beautiful as the fork of MOTOGP racing bike.
Maybe the same thing for this
They're not gonna try to recoup their investment back ASAP by cutting manufacturing and R&D costs. Naw... nothing to worry about here :-0
Well, it was fun while it lasted.
Good luck 'Ohlins'
I feel like I've heard this before, and it didn't go well.
I feel 2007-2012 was a weird transitional time for MTB, the awkward teenager working through puberty if you will.. There were some nice innovations and advancements though unreliable for the time, were a necessary stepping stone to get us to where we are today where even mid-range gear is very good in most cases.
And our sport is all about incremental changes, nothing outwardly radical is given a chance to succeed typically. The last year or 3 though where the general advancement has slowed down some, we see some fringe companies doing radically different things and people are generally more open to these, if they are indeed functional ideas
Its me, your old neighbor Dan Sotelo. Wow, though there is a lot of negative coming from mostly the consumer end. I personally feel these critics will soon learn that Ohlin technology is going to give FOX and all other up and coming high end bike suspension makers a real run for their money.
Back in the late 80s when I used to road-race motorcycles I can personally thank Ohlin shocks directly for helping me become the top three contender for 2 years in a row in the most crowed and most popular MC racing class in the world, in both AFM & WERA 400 cc production class.
I'm sure anything Ohlin will put our will be nothing less then incredible. I think it is a Great investment, and you will see a great push into the next generation of modern suspension.,
Sincerely,
Dan
Sad times and I can say this as I have worked for companies that have been bought out and they lost their vision and true meaning of the brand.
Speaking of which, I shoulda never gotten rid of my ‘zocchi DJ with the silhouette on the side...
ridecake.com
Tenneco poo brain poo ideas