French manufacturer Lapierre Cycles has found hope for the future following a court hearing in Dijon that opened the company’s receivership.
It comes after Accell Group, which owns the company as well as Raleigh, was declared bankrupt earlier this month.
Lapierre’s directeur general William Perrier wrote about the court hearing in a post on LinkedIn on Tuesday afternoon, saying: “It doesn’t mean everything is settled, nor that Lapierre is saved. It means that we have obtained the right and the time to fight.”
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The 20 days since insolvency proceedings began against Accell had been used as “preparation”, managing customers, cash flow and suppliers, wrote Perrier.
Now, he said, a new phase would start that involved, among other things, securing a new investor.
“A new stage begins: to make the company run properly and to bring in a long-term industrial or financial investor,” he wrote. “These two projects will move forward together.
“I want to salute the women and men of Lapierre once again,” he continued. “Every order processed, every delivery kept, every customer and supplier reassured builds our credibility with investors. They are the ones who make the value of this company. We’ve got an opportunity. It’s up to us to transform it into a future.”
Lapierre has been a standard fixture in the men’s pro peloton for more than 20 years, with French stars Thibaut Pinot and Arnaud Démare winning major races aboard its bikes. Both men’s and women’s Picnic PostNL teams currently ride the machines, although to limited success so far this year.
Accell Group’s Dutch arm was declared bankrupt two weeks ago. Other cycling-related brands in its portfolio include Batavus, Sparta, Koga, Haibike, Winora, Ghost, Babboe and XLC – as well as the iconic Raleigh, a brand that is freighted with nostalgia for British bike riders of a certain age.
Accell Group said at the time that every “realistic option for the future of the business has been tirelessly explored”, but in the end there had been no “viable solution” for it to be able to continue operating “in its current form”.
A potential life line seemed to have been thrown out from an Irish-based investment firm, Quanta Capital, which has expressed interest in buying the entire group. As a sponsor of the Junior Tour of Ireland, Quanta has links to bike racing. In a statement acquired by Irish site Sticky Bottle, Quanta’s chief executive Mel Sutcliffe said: “Our main objective will be to put the group onto a more stable footing as it has endured quite a tumultuous period of trading.
“We have made contact with Accell and its administrators to formalise our interest in purchasing the group.”
If that purchase does come off, it could secure a future not only for Lapierre and Raleigh, but for all their fellow stablemates.
