Dorel Acquires Cannondale
MONTREAL, Canada (derailedonline.com) - Dorel Industries Ltd. today announced it is re-organizing its Recreational/Leisure segment to create two distinct bicycle divisions to deal separately with the Independent Bicycle Dealer (IBD) and mass merchant channels. The changes are being made to coincide with today's announced acquisition of the Bethel, Connecticut-based Cannondale Bicycle Corporation. The purchase also includes the Sugoi Performance Apparel Company.
A new Dorel Independent Bicycle Dealer (IBD) Division, the Cannondale Sports Group, is being established and will devote all of its energies and resources exclusively to this channel. The Cannondale Sports Group will encompass Cannondale, Sugoi, GT and other premium-oriented brands, and will seek acquisitions in similar high quality, performance bicycle companies. Jeff Frehner, who has been President of Pacific Cycle for three years is leaving that position immediately to return to his roots in the bike business and will oversee the Cannondale Sports Group as President. The current Cannondale management team, headed by President and CEO, Matt Mannelly, will continue to run Cannondale within that group.
"I'm a diehard biking enthusiast. I love this space and am thrilled to be able to focus all of my energy on the IBD channel. With Cannondale and Dorel's resources, the sky is the limit. High quality, innovation and passion, this will be the DNA of our new division," said Jeff.
"This is an excellent strategic fit for Cannondale and a testament to all the hard work of Cannondale employees worldwide. This provides us with tremendous resources to continue to build our innovative brand. It also creates long term stability that will help us achieve our leadership goals in the IBD channel. We're excited to be the leading brand in Dorel's new IBD division. The end result will be a continuous flow of innovative product to our Dealers and consumers," commented Matt.
"Dorel recognizes that doing business with the IBD and mass merchant categories is two very different things and requires distinct strategies and specialized people selling the best products for those channels. We clearly realize this and are making the necessary adjustments to best meet the needs of our customers," stated Dorel President and CEO, Martin Schwartz.
Pacific Cycle, purchased by Dorel in 2004, will now be a stand-alone division focused on the mass merchant channel. Alice Tillett, who has been Executive Vice President, Mass and Sporting Goods Channel at Pacific Cycle, has been named President. With 18 years experience in the sector, 10 of those in the bike industry, Alice has a thorough knowledge of the mass and sporting goods sector and has engineered Pacific's growth in this channel.
Mr. Schwartz said the Cannondale transaction underlines the Company's plan to further unlock shareholder value by concentrating on Dorel's core Recreational/Leisure and Juvenile segments, which provide the greatest potential. "We are committed to pursuing this strategy, and this important transaction positions us globally in a most material way. Dorel recognizes the importance and potential of the Independent Bicycle Dealer channel and is purchasing Cannondale as the first step to become the world's number one IBD player."
Conference Call
Dorel Industries Inc. will hold a conference call to discuss the Cannondale acquisition today at 10:30 A.M. Eastern Time. Interested parties can join the call by dialling 1-800-732-9307. The conference call can also be accessed via live webcast at www.newswire.ca or www.q1234.com. If you are unable to call in at this time, you may access a tape recording of the meeting by calling 1-877-289-8525 and entering the passcode 21261172(number sign) on your phone. This tape recording will be available on Monday, February 4, 2008 as of 12:30 P.M. until 11:59 P.M. on Monday, February 11, 2008.
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Posted on Feb 5, 2008 00:06:38 -0400 by Brady.