French cycling group Rebirth wants to pay fifteen million euros for an 80 % majority stake in Belgian e-bike manufacturer Cowboy. The deal should be complete by mid-October.
Addressing costs
Rebirth’s interest in Cowboy is not new: in mid-August, both parties already signed an agreement to secure Cowboy’s long-term future. Rebirth itself is in the bike business with brands such as Gitane, Peugeot and Solex.
CEO Grégory Trebaol wants to make Cowboy more profitable by starting to use more standard components, while Cowboy is just known for its streamlined and integrated look by using many proprietary components. This measure should cut two million euros in costs, the CEO said.
Break-even in 2027?
Trebaol expects that Cowboy would still make an eight to ten million euro loss this year, on sales of about twenty million euros, Le Figaro reports. Under French rule, that turnover should double in two years, allowing Cowboy to break even in 2027.
The deal is a huge relief for Cowboy, which said in its 2024 annual report – published last month – that it could go bankrupt in the short term if additional financing was not found very quickly. A major recall and problems with long delivery times caused its net loss to peak at 21.7 million euros on sales of 33.7 million euros.
