'Every realistic option for the future of the business has been tirelessly explored' – Owner of Raleigh and Lapierre enters insolvency proceedings

The owners of iconic British bike brand Raleigh and others including Lapierre, the Accell Group, has begun insolvency proceedings, it was announced on Wednesday.

The Dutch company, which bought Raleigh for €100 million in 2012, said that every "realistic option for the future of the business has been tirelessly explored". It entered a suspension of payments, a form of insolvency, in the Netherlands.

Insolvency means a company is unable to meet its debt obligations. The company can restructure or seek a buyer before entering administration.

The news follows a series of difficult years for the Accell Group, which included job cuts in 2024, and losses for Raleigh reported last year. Accell also owns Haibike, Winora, Ghost, Batavus, Koga, Sparta, Babboe and Carqon.

Accell Group was bought by US private equity firm KKR for €1.56 billion (£1.31 billion) in 2022.

In February this year, following a restructuring, Accell reached an agreement with its shareholders and lenders which saw ownership of the company transferred to its lenders. "This was not intended to be a long-term ownership structure," the company said.

However, a press release on Wednesday said that there was no "viable solution" for Accell to continue operations in its "current form".

Therefore, the company has initiated local insolvency proceedings of the group's subsidiaries.

"This is a deeply sad and frustrating situation given all the hard work and everything we have achieved, with the support of shareholders and lenders, to restructure Accell’s operations and finances," Accell's CEO, Jonas Nilsson, said in a press release. "It is an especially difficult moment for our employees, creditors, customers, suppliers, and partners.

"Every realistic option for the future of the business has been tirelessly explored, and none have resulted in a solution to continue the Group in its current form. Our immediate focus is to support an orderly process, provide clarity wherever possible, and work with the relevant court-appointed administrators to preserve viable activities and employment where circumstances allow."

Raleigh was founded in Nottingham in 1885, and was once the largest bike manufacturing company in the world; the brand is famous for design classics including the Raleigh Chopper. In the 1970s and 1980s, it sponsored the TI-Raleigh squad, which won the Tour de France in 1980 through Joop Zoetemlek.