CHICAGO (BRAIN) — SRAM is acquiring the cycling apparel brand Velocio, according to Velocio's owners.
The purchase closed on March 3 and was announced publicly on Wednesday, Andrew Gardner, Velocio's chief marketing officer, told BRAIN and VeloNews.
Velocio announced the sale in a post on its website. A SRAM spokesman said the company would release information about the purchase on Thursday.
The Velocio post said its owners approached SRAM about the acquisition.
"In selling Velocio, our focus was on finding a partner, a large brand or brand family that would value our three pillars: design, responsibility and culture. We approached SRAM precisely because we thought there might be a place in their well-respected orbit of components and bike products for us. We approached SRAM because our cultures are compatible," the post said.
SRAM owns Zipp, RockShox, Avid, Truvativ, TIME pedals, Quarq and other brands. Its most recent acquisition was of the Hammerhead GPS computer brand.
The letter said Velocio has worked with SRAM since 2015 when the two brands shared sponsorship of the UCI pro cycling team Velocio-SRAM.
Velocio said it would maintain its own supply chain, manufacturing, and product design separate from SRAM's.
"What’s exciting is that we’ll now have SRAM’s backing for more independent product design and development, including a still bigger push towards sustainability in our product offerings and how we deliver them. We’ll also have SRAM’s reach into racing and teams as well as their insights into global distribution and retail support. If the burden of a growing business is to grow ever further, there are few partners more suited for that future in the cycling industry than SRAM."
The post was signed by Gardner, Brad Sheehan, Velocio's CEO; and Olivia Dillon, its chief revenue officer.
Owning an apparel brand is not unusual for a component company — arch rival Shimano has owned Pearl Izumi since 2008 and also markets apparel under the Shimano and PRO brands. Campagnolo also markets its own branded apparel line.
