HEERENVEEN, Netherlands (BRAIN) — Accell Group N.V. said it is considering selling its North American business, Accell North America, or right-sizing it down to a profitable size. In the meantime, the company said it will operate ANA as "a separate and focused entity" that will be defined as "non-core" — meaning the North American operations won't be seen as dragging down its parent company's profit reports. ANA accounts for about 6 percent of Accell Group's sales.
In a news release Tuesday before European markets opened, the company said it will conduct a review in the next six to nine months before deciding between options for ANA.
Accell North America distributes the Raleigh, Diamondback, Ghost and Redline traditional bike brands, as well as the Raleigh Electric, Haibike and iZip e-bike lines. The company previously owned and operated Seattle Bike Supply.
Ton Anbeek, the CEO of Accell Group, said, “We have decided to run our U.S. activities as a separate and noncore entity. This means that we need to reconsider and decide on our U.S. activities in the next six to nine months, apart from improving the results of the U.S. business. While considering future options for the U.S. will require our attention, we expect these measures to free up management time, allowing us to focus more on the further execution of our growth strategy."
Accell has already begun splitting off the ANA business as noncore in unaudited year-to-date financials released Tuesday. It said its core (non-U.S.) sales were up 5 percent in the first 10 months of 2018 compared with the same period in 2017.
Anbeek joined Accell last year and announced a "Lead Global, Win Local" strategy that includes sharpened brand positionings, omnichannel distribution, centralization of its P&A business and a 40 percent reduction in SKUs, among other goals.
Accell North America went through a dramatic restructuring starting in November last year, following the collapse of its sporting goods channel bike sales, combined with slowdowns in its IBD business. In March 2018, Accell said that ANA's sales were down 14 percent year-over-year in 2017 and 2016.
Watch for updates to this story today.
