Director buys mountain bike maker out of administration
Director Ashley Ball has bought Halifax-based Orange Mountain Bikes and its frame manufacturing division, P. Bairstow, from administration.
Moving forwards the deal secures 30 jobs and will see Orange and Bairstow consolidate operations into one site, with Bairstow already closing its third-party engineering division.
Orange Bikes was founded in 1988 and has gone from strength to strength for well over thee decades, in the process becoming a cult brand within the mountain biking world, thanks to its distinctive designs, British-made frames and racing pedigree.
As with a number of businesses in the cycle sector, Orange experienced several challenges in recent years, largely as a result of the pandemic.
Ball said, “Restructuring the businesses was never going to be an easy process but the decision to do so has preserved the livelihoods of the people at the heart of the organisation, streamlined our operations and ensured the continued strength of the Orange Bikes brand and its products.”
Ball was advised by Leeds based J9 Advisory who assisted in structuring, funding and executing the transaction.
Johnny Abraham of J9 said, “To be honest, I had no idea how famous Orange Bikes was or what a tremendous following it has! Ash clearly has a huge passion for bikes and the Orange brand and wanted to do whatever it took to rescue the business. We are glad that we could provide the expertise required to rescue this well respected British brand. Thanks go out to TFG Capital and E Capital, together with BDO for their respective roles in completing this transaction.”
