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news
Rapha Wiggins Hour jersey (picture Rapha.cc)Rapha reportedly set to be sold for nearly £150 million
Upmarket cycle clothing firm Rapha is set to be sold in a deal that could value the London-based business at almost £150 million, reports Sky News.
Rumours have been circulating since late last year that the firm, founded in 2004, was up for sale, with US-owned investment bank William Blair appointed in April to advise Rapha.
> Rapha reportedly appoints US-owned investment bank to advise on sale of business
Potential purchasers are said to include the private equity firms TPG, whose investments include Ducati and Spotify, and Advent International, backer of businesses such as Fatface and Poundland.
Co-founder and CEO Simon Mottram, whose background is in brand consultancy, had previously brought Active Private Equity on board as an investor.
Despite the company’s four-year sponsorship of Team Sky coming finishing at the end of 2016, business is reported to continue to be booming.
Rapha’s sales in the year to January 2017 are reported to be £63 million, up 30 per cent on the previous year, and growth since then is said to be running at 40 per cent.
Sky News said that neither Advent not Rapha would comment when approached.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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14 comments
Pedal Ed is owned by Selle Royal.
Well I did not know that.
It would appear my foundation of socialist ideals are built on a similar amount of research and thought as Katie Price puts into her marriages.
The good thing is - Rapha has a very clear image and demographic. (They wobbled a bit with their 'cheap' Sky lines). So that delivers an easy model for the new owners to follow. There's an EXCELLENT management and creative level below the current (previous?) owners of Simon etc. If they stay on - and perhaps even get added to - I can see a strong future.
Don't give a monkeys who owns Rapha.
As long as they keep innovating and producing quality kit I'll keep spending my money there.
The problem often is that when the founders leave, the people who remain are dull unimaginative corporate types who are unable to maintain the type of thinking that led to the initial success, and the reason for buying it in the first place. Apple was a classic example. But I like Rapha stuff, and their philosophy, so fingers crossed that it all works out.
Risky purchase, there are soooo many businesses large and small providing cycling apparel. It's very easy to drift from one to another. If there's any perception of a drop in quality, the new owners will lose big time.
Fuel short term growth and 3-5 year exit for the PE capital surely. Rapha tour teams coming to a tour near you?
All that matters is whether the prospective new owners will prioritise short or long term profit. The former is easier to achieve (drop the quality of product/service; de-prioritise R&D; engange mainstream channels). No guarantee this will be their tack though.
That'll get the buyer a couple pairs of Rapha tights and maybe a jersey...
What did you think Rapha was before this? It's a brand made up by a British marketing guy in the 2000s to sound continental and retro, not some hallowed bastion of cycling culture.
I thought it was just that, a British brand done good on a global stage, to the point of being quoted in mainstream news outlets. Regardless of where you stand on Rapha (overpriced nonsense or british cool brand) there's no denying that Mottram has ridden resergence of cycling in the UK wave very smartly indeed and I don't think that anyone could disagree that he's brought something new to the scene (even if it is just hyperbole). I mean everyone needs a £65 Rapha silk scarf right?
And there endeth any endearment with Rapha I previously had.
Some darn good clobber to be sure, however there's plenty of other darn good clobber out there which isn't part of some faceless international finance investment parasite.
See Velobici, Ashmei (British) Pedal Ed, Isadore, Cafe Du Cyclist as just some of the other 'premium' examples... I just hope the cycling media generally follows suit and champions another British 'cool brand' in it's place.
Yawn.
Keep the red flag flying comrade.
Yawn. Damn, they're contagious over the internet as well!