Founder Simon Mottram, the cycling nut who set it up here in 2004, is opening stores for wealthy cyclists from Colorado to Seoul. Now, with the Tour in full flow, he wants new investors.
Reports suggesting bids for a stake so far value the company at £150 million are short of the mark, I hear. Private-equity groups TPG, Advent and more are bidding closer to £200 million.
That’s a staggering number for a business with a 2016 underlying profit of £3.5 million. But with those earnings growing at 79% on a year ago, you can see the appeal.
Mottram found his niche and exploited it, focusing on quality and exclusivity.
Now he’s got the multi-billion-dollar funds queuing up to get a slice of the action, the trick is to select one who won’t ruin that focus on the cycling cognoscenti in a sprint for, forgive the pun, highly geared returns.
