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wiggle sold to europe

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Comments

  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    https://www.google.com/search?q=SPAC+deal

    A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC; /spæk/), also known as a "blank check company" is a shell corporation listed on a stock exchange with the purpose of acquiring a private company, thus making it public without going through the traditional initial public offering process.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,980 ✭✭✭Smee_Again


    SPAC is a special purpose acquisition vehicle. Basically a company set up and IPO'd to raise capital for the purposes of buying an existing company.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,952 ✭✭✭✭retalivity


    peter kern wrote: »
    https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/signa-sports-agrees-spac-deal-buy-wiggle-bicycle-store-source-2021-06-11/

    i wonder if brexit has anything to do with it ? pure specualation.
    out if interest what exactly is a spac deal ?

    It says in the article:

    "SPACs raise funds in an initial public offering with the aim of buying a private firm, which then automatically gets a stock market listing."

    Basically a shell company to gather money before they identify a target to buy.

    EDIT: Snap!
    So is CRC being left behind as the UK Store?


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,393 ✭✭✭Grassey


    I think that article is a bit lazy, I've seen elsewhere it's the WiggleCRC group being acquired, there isn't seperate Wiggle & CRC


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 47,997 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder




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  • Registered Users Posts: 5,800 ✭✭✭fat bloke


    So. Biking bargains or no? That is the only question.


  • Moderators, Politics Moderators Posts: 38,413 Mod ✭✭✭✭Seth Brundle


    I know this thread is more than two years old but felt it was probably the best placce for this.

    Seems like the parent company (Signa Sports United) is in trouble and is looking to restructure and delist from the NY Stock Exchange. This will result in shutting down any companies not performing. Chief financial officer Adrian Bruce cited Brexit and the post-pandemic cycling slump as factors that hit the business...




  • Registered Users Posts: 14,229 ✭✭✭✭ednwireland


    probably interest rates. the company I work for is an acquisition vehicle. interest rates have pushed loan costs to our highest outgoing.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,356 ✭✭✭Paddigol


    Is it just me or is the selection of bikes with online retailers much narrower now than pre-2020? Wiggle don't sell a single bike with Campag components. In fact Campag spec'd bikes on any of the big online retailers are almost impossible to find. I accept that looking for rim brake frames now is just delusional - I've made peace with the fact that I'll have to shop second hand for those. But everything seems much more generic now, to me anyway. Very little by way of genuine discount either too (I know Wiggle have decent discounts now, but that's probably linked to the above discussion) other than for XS/ XL frame sizes that they're trying to offload.

    Maybe its just rose tinted glasses syndrome for me, but it all seems to have gone to crap since 2020. I used to be like a kid in a sweet shop whenever I'd venture into any of the online retailers... now its all 'meh'.



  • Registered Users Posts: 539 ✭✭✭ARX


    What are you looking for in the way of rim brakes? Complete bike or frameset only?



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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,356 ✭✭✭Paddigol


    Complete bike. I'm not actually going to be pulling the trigger anytime soon (house build), but that hasn't stopped me looking. I had my eye on a lovely Pinarello Dogma F12 ex pro bike for a while... afraid to check back as I know in my heart they're all sold. I'm really just commenting from general observation over the past few years. Covid panic seems to have have drained all suppliers of all rim brake stock like lightning, which simply accelerated the industry decision to drop rim brakes. And then the industry seems to be completely flustered by the recent parts shortage/ components supply chain debacle and doesn't know what to focus on now... aero/ endurance/ weight, gravel... and individual brands don't know how/ where to position themselves.

    I fully accept that I'm entering "old man shakes fist at clouds" territory here!



  • Registered Users Posts: 539 ✭✭✭ARX




  • Registered Users Posts: 1,356 ✭✭✭Paddigol


    I saw that... and have already tortured myself with visions of the Campy kitted one 😂



  • Registered Users Posts: 9,249 ✭✭✭Macy0161




  • Registered Users Posts: 6,366 ✭✭✭iwillhtfu


    You'd have to wonder what other investments failed to bring down a cycling store through their absolute peak business years.

    Definitely a case of they're showing you something but the money was lost elsewhere.

    Hard to see anyone stepping in there for a UK based business



  • Moderators, Politics Moderators Posts: 38,413 Mod ✭✭✭✭Seth Brundle


    My link a week ago which mentioned some restructuring within the group mentioned the following: "Chief financial officer Adrian Bruce cited Brexit and the post-pandemic cycling slump as factors that hit the business"

    I agree that its unlikely that a buyer will save them.



  • Registered Users Posts: 9,249 ✭✭✭Macy0161


    Since they merged and it wasn't coming from the north, there was less reason to use them anyway, post brexit delivery has been even slower. Might have been different if they had consolidated in Belfast and retained access to both markets?



  • Registered Users Posts: 5,800 ✭✭✭fat bloke


    I was a regular CRC customer for all sorts of stuff but post Brexit that stopped dead. That was replicated amongst my cyclist mates too. That's gotta add up and affect a business's bottom line.



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,160 ✭✭✭JMcL


    Road.cc have pegged Mike Ashley as the most likely buyer (https://road.cc/content/news/wiggle-reportedly-heading-towards-administration-304591). Whoop-de-do.... Venture capital, doncha love it. Take not one but two successful market leaders, and turn them to sh1t3. Wasn't one of the German e-tailers part of the stable at one point (not the Signa shower - Bike Components or one of the others)?

    I note they've both got black Friday sales going (a month early 🙄). Who'd be putting in an order for a bike or a nice set of Prime wheels in the current circumstances?



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,757 ✭✭✭cython


    Wiggle had bought Bike24 in Germany, but it seems subsequently divested it back to the previous owners after maybe 2 years - I suspect that's the German e-tailer you mean?



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  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 19,474 Mod ✭✭✭✭Weepsie




  • Registered Users Posts: 697 ✭✭✭Cionn


    It seems to be a bit like a biking version of the 2008 financial crash. The market saw prices going up 20% annually through the covid years and everybody getting on bikes. Who could have foreseen the end of the Pandemic and people going back on holidays or visiting cinemas. I bought a cracking bike in 2019 for about £2.4k (discounted from £3k). The same bike is now £6k, reality has to bite for Shimano and bike manufacturers at some stage. I presume we will see a culling of manufacturers too in the not too distant future.



  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 23,202 Mod ✭✭✭✭godtabh


    Who does wiggle lose c. £90m in one year? That seems like madness



  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 24,339 Mod ✭✭✭✭CramCycle


    Website went to sh1t, service went to sh1t, missed their ace in the hole of having a base in NI during Brexit and thought moving it all to the UK was smart, value went down, tried cutting corners with shippers and so on. I'd say some creative accounting to move debt to them from elsewhere like some sports team owners (made up but possible).

    I would have bought from CRC alot before Wiggle took over, and it's gonna down hill ever since.

    German competitors had better sites, better service and I was surprised to find, I'd sooner pay for shipping each time to know it was a reputable company delivering.



  • Registered Users Posts: 14,229 ✭✭✭✭ednwireland


    used to use crc a lot but it the last 2 years been struggling to get what I want. been using bikeinn, alltricks , bike-discount, mantel etc etc more and more.

    can't see Mike Ashley improving it



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,460 ✭✭✭at1withmyself


    I've gone back to using Wiggle again for the past few months. I don't solely use them but am finding their prices competitive for some items. They also use An Post as delivery and give a delivery date when your at the basket stage. Delivery still much quicker then other sites.

    Maybe too little too late but I'll always use the cheapest option with reasonable delivery times so I hope they pull through.



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,460 ✭✭✭at1withmyself


    Curious of the bike that doubled in price, what model was it?



  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 19,474 Mod ✭✭✭✭Weepsie


    The website change was a disaster. Maybe the back end need updating, but the front end as a consumer was absolutely fine.


    It probably lacked a lot of required accessibility features, but the new sites are dreadful. Information has gone missing from them. Searching his hit and miss.



  • Registered Users Posts: 6,867 ✭✭✭G1032


    Same here. Pretty much used CRC for 90% of my bike gear but have hardly used at all since Brexit.



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  • Registered Users Posts: 6,867 ✭✭✭G1032


    Speaking of the German sites and slightly off topic but I've been looking for shoes the last few days. Shimano RC702. All the German sites selling for 150+ when delivering to Ireland or other EU countries but for 125 when delivering to UK? Why is this?



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