MILWAUKEE, US - The Burke family wants to sell its 8.62% stake in the Accell Group. After the demise of Trek Bicycle Corp. founder Dick Burke (photo), who bought the Accell shares, his heirs intend to sell them.
Richard (Dick) Burke died last March from complications during heart surgery. He bought some Accell shares just after the company got listed at the Amsterdam stock exchange. Accell Group CEO René Takens says: “Burke didn’t have any strategic intentions; he thought of it as a nice investment.”
In 2004 Dick Burke extended this investment to over 5%. Since then his stake in Europe’s biggest bike maker in terms of turnover, increased to 818,681 shares which currently stands for a stock exchange value of about € 22 million (US$ 34.4 mn).
According to Accell CEO Takens the Burke family will not hold on to the Accell shares. He states: “I got a call from John Burke saying that they want to sell them. Because the sale of such a big block of shares can affect our quotation, we contacted some stock brokers who are acquainted with potential buyers.”
The Trek Bicycle Corporation is in the United States the number one in IBD sales with a current annual turnover of about US$ 700 million. Accell’s 2007 turnover stood at € 476 million (US$ 743mn).
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