Another merger occurs in the bicycle industry.

Swiss e-bike maker Stromer is taking over Spain's Desiknio, which also makes bikes with electric motors, but for a different sub-segment.

Both sides have agreed on the transaction, as Peter Pergovacz, managing director of the private equity house Naxicap in Germany, which owns Stromer, said in the FAZ interview.

Klaus Max Smolka

Editor in Business.

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Both companies are active in the pedelec segment, i.e. those bicycles that support cyclists when pedaling with an electric motor.

However, Stromer specializes in a special field here: the "speed pedelecs" that require registration, in which the motor only stops helping at 45 kilometers per hour.

The usual pedelecs, which can be driven without any restrictions, stop the support at 25 kilometers per hour.

You are Desiknio's business.

Expand product range

Strategically, the transaction is based on the expanded product portfolio.

In addition, the approach of the founder Joaquin Cortes, who set up Desiknio in 2017, fits well with Stromer, said Pergovacz.

"Joaqin Cortes has a similar philosophy, a similar DNA to Stromer." He named design and technical innovation as factors.

The merger should now enable "scaling", i.e. make Desiknio and the sales figures large.

Naxicap acquired Stromer last year, and according to information from financial circles at the time, the company was valued at around 80 to 100 million euros.

Naxicap is the investment division of the French asset manager Natixis, which is owned by the French savings and credit unions.

She specializes in medium-sized companies and set up an office for the German-speaking area in Frankfurt in 2018.

An e-bike under eleven kilograms

According to Pergovacz, Desiknio sold less than a thousand bikes in 2021.

That should quickly become much more.

"I assume that five years from now we'll be somewhere in the range of 25,000 to 30, 35,000 bikes a year," said the finance manager.

If that is the case, Desiknio would draw level with Stromer.

because its business plan provides for a corresponding dimension.

"It's at a similar level, in five years we'll be around 30,000 bikes a year," said Pergovacz.

According to him, Desiknio wants to launch one of the lightest e-bikes in the world this year, weighing less than eleven kilograms.

Stromer did not sell as much in 2021 as the order book would have given due to the industry-wide difficulties of suppliers.

Nevertheless, sales rose by around 10 million to 68 million francs, as Pergovacz revealed.

Markets are Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

Further growth is planned for the current year.

"In the group we want to reach almost 80 million francs, with the absolute lion's share going to Stromer and we are in the range of 3 to 4 million for Desiknio," said Pergovacz.