BEAVERTON, OR (BRAIN)—Yakima, one of the industry’s best known rack companies, has “merged” its operations with a privately held Taiwan company that has been supplying it with parts for the last nine years.
Jerry Heinlen, Yakima’s CEO, told Bicycle Retailer & Industry News today, that the deal has been in the works for the last several months. “We filed the papers today,” he said. The company is incorporated in Delaware. Yakima, formerly owned by Arcapita, a private venture company, will become a subsidiary of Kemflo. The company will operate as an independent subsidiary, Heinlen said.
Kemflo International is in Pingtung, Taiwan, a city located west of Kaohsiung near the island’s southern tip. Kemflo makes a variety of consumer goods such as water filtration and electronic products as well as products sold under its brand name. It has 1,900 employees in Taiwan, China, the U.S., and Europe.
Heinlen said the agreement will have no effect on its retail operations, there will be no changes in management staff and its manufacturing operation in Tijuana, Mexico, remains unchanged, he said. Heinlen took over as the company’s CEO in August 2006.
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—Marc Sani
