Flick Gocke Schaumburg advises Canyon Bicycles founder on GBL acquisition

Flick Gocke Schaumburg has advised company founder Roman Arnold on the tax structuring of the acquisition of a majority stake in Canyon Bicycles GmbH by investment holding company Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL). The transaction, which is based on a company value of EUR 800 million, is expected to be completed in Q1 2021.

Canyon Bicycles GmbH, based in Koblenz, Germany, has around 900 employees. It develops and manufactures high-quality road bikes, triathlon bikes, mountain bikes and e-bikes. The bikes are sold exclusively via the company’s own online stores.

GBL’s entry was preceded by a bidding process in which several other private equity funds were involved until the final stage (for details, see https://www.juve.de/nachrichten/deals/2020/12/fahrrad-boom-gbl-uebernimmt-mit-linklaters-premiumhersteller-canyon).

Advisors to Roman Arnold:

Flick Gocke Schaumburg (Bonn): Dr. Oliver Hötzel (project lead), Dr. Christian Hick, Dr. Karl Broemel