Enve, a well-established wheel, componentry, and latterly bike brand specialising in high-end composite products has announced today that it has been acquired by Utah-based private equity firm PV3. The acquisition follows the brand’s move to a new headquarters in Ogden, Utah, in 2016.
PV3 is headed up by Mark Hancock, himself a cycling enthusiast, and is on record as being committed to maintaining the Enve brand heritage. Enve itself, founded in 2007, is an outlier in composite manufacturing insofar as the majority of its products are manufactured domestically in the USA.
Of the acquisition, Hancock said, “We have confidence in the direction Enve’s management team are taking the company and we want to continue building the brand’s legacy as a performance leader and U.S. manufacturer while providing the necessary support for continued growth”.
The divestment of Enve from its original parent company, Amer Sports, an umbrella under which Wilson, Arc’teryx, and Salomon sit amongst several others, comes against a backdrop of significant industry headwinds in the cycling sector. These have seen layoffs from large, well-established brands from the likes of Specialized, Zwift, Wahoo, and recently, Rapha.
“ENVE has gone through major changes in the past years. The brand has positive momentum, and we see that it has good potential," explained Amer Sports' Chief Operating Officer, Michael Hauge Sorensen. "However, after a thorough strategic evaluation, we have concluded that the next phase of development should happen under new ownership. We believe PV3 is the most suitable owner for ENVE to realize and drive its next growth phase.”
Mike Stimola, General Manager at Enve says of the move that, "This is an opportunity to take Enve to the next level through local Utah ownership. While the current bicycle market is challenging, Enve is growing based on our product innovation and professional team partnerships."
A cursory search on PV3 doesn’t reveal much. The firm is a “family holding company of Mark Hancock, an experienced and successful entrepreneur and cycling enthusiast”, but it appears to be the firm's first foray into the world of cycling from a business standpoint.
Details of the transaction have not been disclosed by the brands, but it is expected to be completed within "the next few weeks."
