TORONTO – Canadian bike company Cervelo Cycles has been sold to Dutch conglomerate Pon Holdings.
Cervelo will continue to operate independently and co-founders Phil White and Gerard Vroomen will remain with the Toronto-based company, which will operate in the conglomerate’s Pon Bicycle Group division.
“The opportunity for Cervelo within Pon Bicycle Group is tremendous,” White said Friday in a release. “The combination of Pon’s considerable resources and expertise and Cervelo’s cutting edge technology will make us stronger and more competitive as we continue to engineer the best bikes on the planet.”
White will remain as Cervelo’s chief executive officer.
Cervelo was founded 16 years ago by White and Vroomen when they were engineering students at McGill University. Cervelo was the first Canadian bike manufacturer on the Tour in 2003.
“The Canadian-based company’s state of the art technology and passion for pushing the limits of engineering has captured the imagination of cyclists around the globe,” said Pon Holdings CEO Janus Smalbraak. “With Cervelo we believe there is great potential for growth and we are looking forward to working with them to achieve these goals.”
Pon, an international trading and service conglomerate that began sale negotiations with Cervelo in December, counts Audi, Porsche, and Volkswagen, among the companies it owns. Pon Bicycle Group also owns Dutch bike manufacturer Royal Dutch Gazelle, and is a major shareholder of German manufacturer Derby Cycle.
Vroomen will assume a part-time role as business development manager within Pon Bicycle Group, focusing on special projects.
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