Investment fund L Catterton and Cicli Pinarello, which announced the deal, did not disclose its amount. L Catterton bought two-thirds of Pinarello from members of the Pinarello family, Italian newspaper Il sole 24 ore notes. According to her, the daughter of the founder of the company, Clara Pinarello, and the widow of his youngest son, Andrea, who died a few years ago at the finish of one of the stages of the Giro del Friuli race, sold their shares.
Pinarello was founded in 1952 when professional cyclist Giovanni Pinarello received £ 100,000 for refusing to participate in the Giro d’Italia. After receiving the money, Pinarello opened a bicycle assembly workshop. Since then, Pinarello has developed into one of the leading sports bike manufacturers for both professionals and amateurs. 12 winners of the world’s premier multi-day race, the Tour de France, have won it on Pinarello bikes, including Briton Chris Froome, who won in 2015 and 2016. The company’s revenue is approximately 52 million euros per year, 90% of its revenue comes from sales abroad, according to Il sole 24 ore, the company produces an average of 30,000 bicycles per year. Pinarello products are sold both through retail chains and through distributors in 50 countries around the world, according to the company’s website.
L Catterton, with a net worth of $ 13 billion, was created in January 2016 when the Catterton fund merged its US assets with private equity investments LVMH and Groupe Arnault in Europe and Asia. The Catterton Foundation owns 60% of L Catterton’s shares. The latter invests in consumer market companies, particularly those related to healthy eating and sports: more than half of the brand portfolio is in organic and sports companies. So, in the L Catterton portfolio there are brands 2XU (manufacturer of triathlon clothing), Peloton (manufacturer of exercise bikes), CorePower Yoga (network of yoga studios), Sweaty Betty (manufacturer of sportswear), etc.
One of the fastest growing sports in the world is triathlon, thanks primarily to the Chinese market. The boom of triathlon in China began after the Chinese Dalian Wanda Group bought the American World Triathlon Corporation, the organizer of the triathlon under the Ironman brand, for $ 650 million in 2015.
Fausto Pinarello, Giovanni’s eldest son, will remain CEO of Pinarello, and he will also own the rest of the stake in the company. The partnership with L Catterton will allow Pinarello to expand its presence in international markets, Pinarello said. “We are delighted to provide Pinarello with new growth opportunities,” comments Michael Forello, Managing Partner at L Catterton Development Fund in North America. In addition, Pinarello has shown consistently growing revenues for over 10 years, remaining the market leader, he adds. LVMH is looking for brands with a history and a niche market of their own, said Mario Ortelli, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein.
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