Majority Stake in Vittoria Acquired by Private Equity Group
A private equity investment group has announced its acquisition of a majority stake in Vittoria.
Telemos Captial will join the current Vittoria senior management and Wise Equity as investors in the tire manufacturer. Vittoria tires was previously sold to Wise Equity for a non-disclosed fee in 2020.
The new majority stakeholder says it will use its backing of the company to help the brand's plan for international expansion and develop products. Vittoria's sustainability efforts and current research and development will continue after the deal with Telemos saying Vittoria has: "grown substantially, led by group Chairman and CEO Stijn Vriends, who together with the current senior management team will significantly re-invest and is committed to continue to drive Vittoria's successful The Ride Ahead strategy."
 | In Vittoria, we are committed to make the most advanced bicycle tires on the planet, to deliver the best riding experiences to cyclists of all kinds. The support of Wise Equity has been fantastic over the last years, and we are very pleased that Telemos — with all its relevant experience in growing global brands — is now joining us on the ride. |
| For over 60 years, Vittoria has been at the core of cycling performance with an unparalleled track-record of wins across many disciplines of the sport. We feel privileged to be the new owners of such a storied brand and are excited about the prospects in front of us, as we join forces with the Vittoria team. |
Currently, Vittoria sells through subsidiaries in Europe, North America and Asia but the new deal sounds like this will be expanded in the future.
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74 Comments
If there are companies just shoveling money from one pile to another pile, i always doubt their legitimacy. And yes, banks are included there.
Just too much overcomplicated financial bs that only provides gains for those who already own more than enough in our society.
Lower ROI initiatives are usually the ones that actually create value (and the ones I enjoyed working on the most). In this case, Vittoria is getting a cash infusion and a relationship with a capital fund that will allow them to grow a relationship with potential suppliers that previously wouldn't have given them the time of day. This usually means better products, and a healthier company (more runway for hiring better talent, management training, ability to take greater risks, scaled production, etc).
That being said, when you zoom out to look at the macro view, PE aint great. That's why I ultimately left. These low risk funds just exist to make up the capital lost from buying a distressed middle market company that ultimately couldn't be saved and resulted in a lot of lost jobs and ruined livelihoods.
All that to say: Let's be optimistic about our little hobby here. The bike industry is notorious for poor management and founders who are too stoked on bikes to have any meaningful talent in running a business. A lot of bike companies could benefit from a deal like this.
cyclingtips.com/2019/04/inside-vittoria-lion-tyres-thailand-manufacturing-facilities
Private equity is not the same as venture capital.
Separately, I think vittoria has been on a pretty good roll with the quality of their tires over the last few years despite being PE owned, but availability has been lacking. While I haven't ridden any of their new MTB tires, I've been quite impressed with their road and gravel tires and will be looking at some mazzas and martellos in the future. The lack of availability is particularly interesting because they own a bunch of factories so it's not like they're relying on overbooked factories to make their tires, but perhaps they are getting so much to make other people's tires they're just keeping stock of their own stuff limited so they don't have to dump them.
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