HEERENVEEN, Netherlands (BRAIN) — Accell Group announced Friday that it has increased its minority stake in Velosophy to take over 100 percent ownership in the Dutch e-cargo bike company. Velosophy owns Babboe family cargo bikes, premium cargo brand CarQon, and Centaur Cargo, which specializes in B2B cargo bikes for “last mile” deliveries.
The Dutch group previously had a 35 percent stake in Velosophy.
“This acquisition is a significant step forward in our urban mobility strategy and bolsters our position in the market for e-cargo bikes,” Accell Group CEO Ton Anbeek said. “The focus of this strategy is not just on consumers, but also on the growing demand for smarter and cleaner mobility solutions for the delivery of parcels, shopping and meals in cities.
“The Velosophy team lives and breathes innovation and provides us with even more execution power in the international e-cargo bike market. Together we can make a real difference for both consumers and the business market in areas such as electric drives and safety, but also on specific e-cargo innovations such as battery capacity, road holding and cornering stability,” Anbeek added.
Babboe was founded in 2006 and offers a selection of electric and non-electric front-loading family cargo bikes sold in more than 20 countries. Velosophy launched CarQon this year as a high-end e-cargo brand. Centaur Cargo serves the market for electric delivery bikes and is currently running numerous pilot programs with e-commerce companies, Accell stated.
Velosophy general manager Epco Vlugt said: “The growing international demand for urban bike solutions is creating enormous opportunities — opportunities that we, as a small player, are not big enough or fast enough to respond to. By joining forces with Accell, we will be able to develop and implement our innovative solutions more quickly and launch them on a global scale. The opportunities opened up by Accell as a global player give us a huge energy boost to continue the expansion of Velosophy and its brands and to allow them to thrive.”
Velosophy has around 50 employees and recorded 17.7 million euros in sales last year. Accell Group is financing the acquisition from its own resources, and the transaction is subject to the approval of the German market authority. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018.
