Pierer Mobility AG, the parent company of Austrian motorbike manufacturer KTM, is ending its involvement in the bicycle sector with the sale of the Felt Bicycles brand. As the company announced, the previous minority shareholders and managing directors Florian Burguet and Cesar Rojo are taking over the brand. The two managers had already been responsible for the operational management of Felt since 2023 and will continue to run the companies in Spain and North America independently in future. The Spaniard Rojo is a recognised and respected engineer and designer in bike circles.
According to the company, the purchase price for the transaction is in the mid-single-digit million range. Pierer had previously discontinued the e-bike brands Gasgas and Husqvarna.
Focus on motorbikes
In smooth corporate language, it is said that Pierer Mobility AG is "consistently continuing its strategic reorientation" with this step and will in future concentrate exclusively on the core business with motorbikes of the KTM, Husqvarna and GasGas brands. In fact, this step primarily marks the failure of a corporate strategy for which the word "crashing" is often used these days. Since 1992, the KTM bike brand has no longer been part of the Austrian motorbike manufacturer KTM Motor-Fahrzeugbau KG, which was taken over by Stefan Pierer following insolvency and built up into a global corporation. Pierer Mobility subsequently expanded into the bicycle industry again, including through acquisitions. In addition to the Felt brand, the German component manufacturer Syntace was also part of the company conglomerate and was affected by the insolvency of the motorbike manufacturer KTM and the resulting problems of the Pierer Group. Syntace is now an independent company again and is currently working on restructuring after filing for insolvency.
"The sale of Felt Bicycles is another important step towards making the company leaner and fit for the future. We are thus consistently continuing on our path to becoming one of the world's leading motorbike manufacturers again," explains Gottfried Neumeister, CEO of Pierer Mobility AG.
New management at Felt Bicycles
Felt Bicycles can look back on a long history in the bicycle sector and enjoys a particularly good reputation in North America. The brand was founded in 1991 by Jim Felt and made a name for itself primarily in the road bike and triathlon segment. The new owners Florian Burguet and Cesar Rojo have extensive experience in the bicycle industry. Burguet previously held management positions at various bicycle manufacturers, while Rojo is known in the industry as an engineer and designer. Both managers had already been responsible for the operational management of Felt as managing directors and minority shareholders since 2023. With the now completed management buy-out, they will take full control of the brand and the associated companies in Spain and North America.
Thomas Musch
Publisher
