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WiggleCRC confirms it has bought German e-commerce site Bike24Bike24.PNG

WiggleCRC confirms it has bought German e-commerce site Bike24

Combined business has turnover of £500 million
by Simon_MacMichael
Mon, Oct 23, 2017 14:06
7

WiggleCRC has confirmed that it has bought the German online cycling retailer, Bike24.

As we reported yesterday, news of the deal was broken by The Sunday Times, which put a price tag of £100 million-plus on the transaction.

> WiggleCRC reportedly set to buy online German retailer Bike24

According to WiggleCRC, former by the merger last July of Wiggle with Chain Reaction Cycles, there is “minimal overlap” between its customers and those of Bike24,

It added that Bike24 would continue to trade as a separate business within the group.

Brian McBride, Chairman of WiggleCRC said: “The acquisition of Bike24 is an important step in the group’s broader strategy of creating a global ecommerce champion in the growing cycling and tri-sports markets.”

Wiggle CRC’s latest accounts, filed last month, revealed that the group now derives most of its turnover from outside the UK.

> Local bike shops look away now - reports of worsening losses at Wiggle are exaggerated

International sales will be further boosted by its acquisition of Bike24, which trades principally in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and has annual turnover of almost €85 million (£76 million).

McBride added: “The combined business will have pro forma revenues of circa £500 million and a more diversified income stream, with international sales increasing from 52 per cent of group currently, to circa 60 per cent.”

WiggleCRC CEO Will Kernan said: “Bike24 is a leading German operator and a much admired and respected retailer.

“We are delighted to bring Bike24 within the WiggleCRC group. The Bike24 brand, team and customer proposition will remain and will be further supported by the WiggleCRC business.

“Customers across the group will benefit from a broader offering of leading brands, great service and compelling value,” he added.

Bike24’s CEO, Andrés Martin-Birner, commented: “I am hugely proud of all that our team has achieved in the last 15 years.

“In WiggleCRC we have found a partner who will add support to our ambitious growth plans and protect the brand and the culture of Bike24.

“We will share knowledge, our passion for cycling and tri-sports and together we will approach the future with confidence.”

WiggleCRC
Bike24
mergers and acquisitions
Simon MacMichael

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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7 comments

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Yorkshire wallet | 6 years ago
0 likes

How long before bike24 run into the ground stories?

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velo-nh | 6 years ago
0 likes

Buying up the competition is never good for the consumer.  Where else are you going to go?

Avatar
ReHMn | 7 years ago
1 like

I asked Wiggle and Bike24, what Simon forget to ask...

and yes, Germany doesn't equal EU as whole...

 

Dear Support Teams on both sides,
 
Now, if this great news became public, I would like to know, what will change from customer perspective, as I am your loyal customer experiencing different benefits/pain.
At Wiggle there is a free shipping from 60 EUR purchase price and a customer loyality discount and excellent UK brands available.
On Bike24 side there was never a free shipping, however there is wider range of products without the UK brands.
 
So my question is, what changes can we expect on customer side, as a consequence of this marriage?
 
Thank you!

 

...so far only Wiggle responded, not a good news from customer perspective:

 

"

Thank you for your email, as you know Wiggle CRC group has recently bought in BIKE 24, please note this is an acquisition not a merge, therefore the business still remain as two separate entity, from customer perspective, nothing will change, Bike24 side will still charge for delivery, however, the combination of WiggleCRC and Bike24 will create a stronger pan-European Group, with increased scale and strengthened local sourcing and distribution networks. We wish you a good day.

Regards"

Avatar
Milkfloat | 7 years ago
2 likes

I was hoping that Bike24 would improve Wiggle and CRC’s current service levels.

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cdamian | 7 years ago
1 like

Nice. I buy 90% of my stuff from Wiggle and Bike24 anyway. (Rest is from bike-components.de and bike-discount.de)

I hope they improve the service and delivery speed/costs of Bike24.

Avatar
Element2k3 replied to cdamian | 7 years ago
0 likes

cdamian wrote:

Nice. I buy 90% of my stuff from Wiggle and Bike24 anyway. (Rest is from bike-components.de and bike-discount.de)

I hope they improve the service and delivery speed/costs of Bike24.

What is there to improve??? Seen they are based in Dresden, it's like delivery within 1 day in most places in Germany. It has very good prices, huge choice in products, if a product is no more available they inform you not later than the next day and if you order by 11-12,  you can be sure the product is going to be shipped the same day. I spend several thousands of Euros every year at bike24 and never had problems. Not even with returns.

 

I'm really happy to read that bike24 will keep working as always keeping the same team, service and quality

Avatar
cdamian replied to Element2k3 | 7 years ago
0 likes

Element2k3 wrote:

What is there to improve??? Seen they are based in Dresden, it's like delivery within 1 day in most places in Germany. It has very good prices, huge choice in products, if a product is no more available they inform you not later than the next day and if you order by 11-12,  you can be sure the product is going to be shipped the same day. I spend several thousands of Euros every year at bike24 and never had problems. Not even with returns.

I am in Spain, the delivery is usually a week and there is no free delivery no matter how much you spend.

Wiggle delivery is free for most things and paying for one day delivery is also very cheap.

Wiggle also have an address in Spain to return stuff to, so you don't have to pay for postage to the UK.  They are also very good about returning things.

I am not saying bike24 is bad, just that Wiggle is exceptionally good.

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