Riverside sells Bike24 to Bridgepoint-backed WiggleCRC

Financial terms have not been disclosed, however press reports suggest an enterprise value of more than £100m. The company was marketed off a €10m EBITDA from €100m in turnover, according to unquote" sister publication Debtwire.

The sale ends a two-and-a-half year holding period for Riverside, which acquired the company from its founders in February 2015.

Under Riverside's ownership, the company has focused on expanding and professionalising the business and claims to have nearly doubled in size.

Acquirer Wiggle generated a €7m operating profit from €282m in revenues in 2016, according to publicly available documents.

Bridgepoint acquired Wiggle for €210m in December 2011, drawing equity from Bridgepoint Europe IV.  In February 2016 it acquired competitor Chain Reaction Cycles and the company said that 2016 revenues would have been £370m, had Chain Reaction been included for the entire period.

Previous funding
Riverside acquired Bike24 from its founders in February 2015. The sale was run by Altium Capital and the enterprise value was estimated to stand at less than €50m, backed by a €21m debt package (3x EBITDA).

Company
Founded in 2005 by Andrés Martin-Birner, Falk Herrmann and Lars Witt, Bike24 sells bikes and accessories via its website. Around 80% of its sales come from bike-related accessories. The company generated revenues of €84m in 2016.

Headquartered in Dresden, Bike24 employs 300 people and delivers 100,000 products to 70 countries.

People
The Riverside Company – Michael Weber (partner); Matthias Fink (vice president); Tillmann Immisch (associate); Thorsten Reuber (operating executive).
Bike24 - Andrés Martin-Birner (co-founder).

Advisers
Vendor – GCA Altium (corporate finance); Allen & Overy (legal); EY (financial due diligence).

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• Topics
• Exits
• Expansion
• DACH
• Consumer
• Germany
• Trade sale
• Riverside
• Bridgepoint
• Build-up