Accell Group Refrains from Making an Offer for Derby Cycle

HEERENVEEN, the Netherlands - Accell Group announced that it does not intend to launch a competing offer for Derby Cycle following Pon Holding’s public offer for all outstanding shares of Derby Cycle yesterday. According to René Takens, CEO of Accell Group: “A competing offer would create too little value and would burden the balance sheet of Accell Group too much.”

“In our comments on the acquisition of our stake in Derby Cycle we have always stated that we appreciate the strong development of Derby and underlying trends and strategy of the company”, said René Takens this morning. “Although, there were never any discussions between us and Derby about strategic cooperation, Derby yesterday opted to be acquired by a third party, thereby implicitly indicating that they do not wish to explore potential opportunities with us. Against this background and given the high level of the offer of € 28 per share, we have decided not to make a competing offer. Such an offer would also stretch our financial position too much and would create too little value to justify this. The intended offer by Pon Holdings does mean that Accell Group’s 22% stake in Derby increased in value by more than €17 million.”

“In case the public offer of Pon Holdings succeeds, the competitive environment in the Netherlands and Germany will remain unchanged. The strategy of Accell Group will also remain unchanged. We continue to pursue organic growth, whereby our focus will be unabatedly on innovation, development of recognisable products and strengthening of our brands. In addition, we will focus on other acquisition opportunities.”