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news
Wiggle and Chain Reaction Cycles.jpgWiggleCRC reportedly set to buy online German retailer Bike24
Online cycling retailer WiggleCRC is reportedly set to buy Germany-based Bike24 in a deal said to be worth more than £100 million, according to The Sunday Times.
The acquisition would see the group, formed last year through the merger of Wiggle and Chain Reaction Cycles, grow its presence in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, which are Bike24’s key markets.
The deal, if it goes through, would result in the group’s turnover heading towards half a billion pounds.
Last month, WiggleCRC said that annualised sales for the 52 weeks ending 1 January 2017 would have been £370 million had Chain Reaction been included for the entire period, while Bike24 has yearly turnover of €85 million (£76 million).
> Local bike shops look away now - reports of worsening losses at Wiggle are exaggerated
It would also result in the business making a significant increase in the amount of turnover it generates outside the UK.
In the latest financial year, and including Chain Reaction Cycles from 7 July 2016 – the day the merger completed – 47.6 per cent was derived from the UK and 19.2 per cent from Europe, with Rest of World accounting for the remaining 33.3 per cent.
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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11 comments
Never actually used bike24, but pricematched pretty much everything I got from Wiggle through them, that's gone for a burton now though.
definitly not good news for the consumer. I already don't like it when they acquired Chainreaction.
Want to be a Monopoly?
Consumer suffer in the end.
This is bad news. Bike24 were great. Sometimes us Brits want to buy stuff that seemingly only Europeans have - headlights with a properly shaped beam, chaincase to cover the chain on the town bike, etc. 1 less choice now.
Wiggle+CRC are the B&Q of the cycling world. Sell half of what you need for a job, claim to be cheap while being mostly expensive and sell the big ticket items but no spare parts. Long since given up with the lot of them.
So, they're the most expensive and don't have what you need. So, you just go to SJS? Right?
The last time I bought something from CR was about 6-7 years ago though I did buy some wheels from Wiggle's outlet store on Ebay this year.
I've purchased more often from bike24 than I have ever CR and wiggle combined, CR rarely sell the spares you need, SJSdo, that's a fact. There are other online sellers that also sell certain spares that most of the big lot don't including a few on ebay.
This is because the vast majority of bike shops are like Halfords but without the lower range bikes. Sure they've got some good wrench's in the back but so few stores still in business have the bits and bobs in stock that those not riding an identikit bike need.
CRand Wiggle also fall down in that.
Even at 1.12 €/£ there's bargains and other bits to be had, being taken over by the likes of CRC/Wiggle doesn't bode well for UK buyers as mentioned
They'll simply play the international distributors off against one another & source from whom ever is the cheapest cross border, month 1 UK, month 2 Germany, month 3 Ireland. The consumer may benefit...but the suppliers will be butchered. The € / £ FX adds some spice to the mix.
Yeah, Bike24 were great, very keen prices.
My guess is after the Wiggle deal they'll refuse to ship to the UK. Isn't that the way Wiggle.de works on items that are cheaper than the UK store?
Bugger, I used Bike24 loads, still good deals to be had even with the £7 postage (though if more than €100 it's free IIRC.
Can't see the good deals lasting with this lot in charge.
Brexit insurance for sure.
Brexit insurance or just a good business opportunity???
Both. It's a private equity firm consolidating the main players in preparation of floating or a big sale stripping out duplications and costs along the way.