CLOPPENBURG, Germany (BRAIN) — Pon Holding’s German subsidiary is now the sole owner of Derby Cycle and has moved to de-list the company from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Pon Holding Germany GmbH paid Derby’s minority shareholders 31.56 euros ($41.60) per share late last week to buy the remaining 5 percent interest in the company.
Pon initially purchased 92 percent of Germany’s largest bike manufacturer in September 2011 for 195 million euros and has continued to buy out minority shareholders including Derby CEO Mathias Seidler and other Derby executives.
The final purchase clears the way for Pon to return Derby to its private status, which had been its intention since buying the company just before Derby competitor Accell Group acquired a controlling interest by purchasing shares on the regulated market.
According to a press release issued by Derby on Dec. 28, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange suspended trading until the imminent delisting goes through. Derby last traded on that day at 32.40 euros per share. It first went public in February 2011 at 12.5 euros per share.
Derby is part of the Pon Bicycle Group, a division of the 7 billion euro Dutch trading company, along with Gazelle, Cervélo and Union Bicycles. Derby sold 482,000 bikes last year under its Focus, Kalkhoff, Rixe, Univega and Raleigh brands (Derby holds the license to sell Raleigh in Europe’s German-speaking countries).
