Blue, Serotta join Mad Fiber at Divine Cycling Group

[Charles M]

Please see the attached press release for news regarding Serotta and Blue Competition Cycles joining Mad Fiber at Divine Cycling Group (DCG). You’ll recall that DCG acquired Mad Fiber in February of this year, as their first step in the process of building a multi-brand cycling company. Blue and Serotta have now become the next brands to join DCG through a merger as outlined in the release. The shareholders of Serotta and Blue are now shareholders in DCG, and will have board representation. Existing management teams for each brand will remain intact, and each brand will maintain its current manufacturing structure, as the goals of DCG are to build a business of strong, independent brands while appropriately seeking the benefits of scale that come from consolidation under DCG. DCG continues to pursue and consider additional merger and acquisition options within the cycling industry.




Serotta,!Blue!Competition Cycles!and!Mad!Fiber!Wheels!Consolidate!Under!Comm on!Ownership
NEW! YORK,! NY! (June! 19,! 2013)!5 The! owners! of! Serotta,! Blue!Competition!Cycles!(BCC)!and!Mad!
Fiber!Wheels! announced! today! that! the! three! companies! have! consolidated! under! Divine! Cycling!
Group,!Inc.!(DCG).!!
DCG! founder! Gary! Ullman! said! of! the! strategy! behind! the! merger,! “Collectively,! these! companies!
bring! together! manufacturing! expertise! across! materials! and! product! categories! and! extensive!
aerodynamics! expertise.! They! combine! American! manufacturing! knowledge! with! significant!
experience!operating!in!Taiwan!and!elsewhere!in!As ia.!The! three!businesses’! sales! forces!cover!all!
major!cycling!markets,!and!utilize!the!best!combin ations!of!traditional!distributors,!dedicated!sale s!
offices,!trading!partners!and!representatives.!And !they!are!now!brought!together!under!a!board!that!
has! world! class! experience! in! acquisition! and! strategic! integration! such! that! they! will! be! able! to!
better! attract! investment,! more! rapidly! grow! product! lines! and! profitability,! and! benefit! from!
combined!strengths!while!maintaining!individual!br and!identities!under! their!current!management!
teams.!This,!as!DCG!Inc!continues!its!commitment!t o!growth!through!acquisition!and!further!builds!
the!company.”!Each!company!will!maintain!its!curre nt!production!facilities.
Serotta,!founded!in!1972!by!industry!icon!Ben!Sero tta,!has!a!proud!history!of!completely!designing,!
engineering! and! producing! every! part! of! its! marquee! bicycle! frames! and! forks.!! ! While! the! main!
offerings! of! Serotta! have! been! and! continue! to! be! in! the! custom5bike! segment,! the! company!
recently! launched! several! standard! geometry! stock!models.! ! Serotta! crafts!titanium,! carbon! and!
titanium5carbon!bicycles.
Blue!Competition!Cycles!designs!and!builds!world5c lass!complete!bicycles!and!framesets!capable!of!
giving! elite! athletes!a! competitive! advantage,! but! which! are! also! available! to!amateur! athletes! or!
serious! enthusiasts.!Along! with! other! attributes,! BCC’s! bikes! are! known! for! their! ground5breaking!
aerodynamic!features,!developed!in!large!part!by!w ind5tunnel!expert!Mike!Giraud.!!BCC!is!headed!by!
CEO!Steven!Harad,!who!has!significant!industry!and !consolidation!experience.
Mad! Fiber, founded! by! one! of! the! industry’s! leading! wheel! experts,! Ric! Hjertberg,! and! Max!
Kismarton,!a!Senior!Fellow!at!Boeing,!has!replaced !the!traditional!wheel –!a!structure!comprised!of!
dozens! of! individual! parts! –! with! a! one5piece! tensioned! carbon! structure.! Applying! composites!
engineering! principles! from! the! aerospace! industry,! the! Mad! Fiber! team! has! built! an! amazingly!
strong,!aerodynamically!slick!and!incredibly!light !carbon!wheel!set!that!can!satisfy!the!needs!of!th e!
most!demanding!professional,!and!they!have!made!it !available!to!cycling!enthusiasts!the!world!over.
DCG! was! formed! in! 2012! with! the! singular! goal! of! consolidating! cycling! and! other! sport! or!
recreation5focused!companies!that!have!strong!indi vidual!brands!and!which!offer!products!that!are!
well5regarded! within! their! respective! industry! segments.! ! As! a! result! of! the! transaction,! BCC! and!
Serotta!shareholders!will!become!shareholders!in!D CG!and!be!represented!on!the!Board!of!DCG.
The!terms!of!the!deal!were!not!disclosed.

[rice rocket]

Whoaaaaaa.

[AngryScientist]

as a huge Serotta fan, i gotta say: I cant handle this management/financial roller coaster ride they are on. yeessh.

[William]

The wheels, they are ah turnin'!





William

[FlashUNC]

This mean that we might be seeing steel Serottas again in the fairly near future?

Or all Serottas will come from the factory with MadFibers?

Not completely surprising -- though would be very interested to get RustyLion's perspective on this one.

[false_Aest]

that's a whole lotta ! and $$ yo

[bobswire]

I normally don't comment about Serotta or other cycling companies but I'm totally baffled by some of Bens moves and what he/Serotta is thinking or seeking ?
RS,Strong, Della Santa are easy to understand and their place in the market but Serotta is baffling, however by all account they still make a great frame.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . to speculate on anything at this point. Bill checks in here farily often and I'm sure he will jump in with some further info.

In the meantime, Charles sure does sem excited about this . . . Look!at!all!those!exclamation!marks!!!!!!!!!!!!

BBD

[54ny77]

Coming to a cereal bowl near you: Madfibrulotta.

[nm87710]

The Titanic probably had a better chance of staying afloat than this venture on it's current course.

[MattTuck]

There are a lot of exclamation points in there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rd7j-aSqFU

[Z3c]

I really don't see any synergies developing amongst 3 brands that have no traction independently. I see 3 adopted kids each with their own sucking chest wound; hopefully Dad is a surgeon. I'm sure trying to eek out some economies from the carbon facility is high on the list of aspirations(pun intended).

Wave goodbye to the Serotta brand you knew boys, she just sailed over the horizon.. Don't be sad, just buy a Hampsten instead.

[eddief]

i just need a little more time to think of something crappy to say.

but maybe it means that Serotta will use the overseas manufacturing experience to have built gorgeous ti in the East. Maybe steels too.

[zap]

Can't read through the !!!!!! that Charles posted.

This might be key......from Bicycle Retailer.

They combine American manufacturing knowledge with significant experience operating in Taiwan and elsewhere in Asia.

Time will tell. Smart folks can improve brand(s).

[charliedid]

Not surprised at all by this.