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Walmart heirs' investment vehicle buys majority stake in UK cycling firm Rapha

Published: 13:07 08 Aug 2017 BST

cycling
Rapha sells upmarket cycling gear through 20 websites and ships goods to more than 100 countries

British cycling gear firm Rapha has confirmed it will be taken over by an investment vehicle set up by two heirs to the Walmart dynasty.

RZC Investments – set up by Steuart Walton and his brother Tom, both grandsons of Walmart founder Sam Walton – have purchased a majority stake in Rapha for £200mln.

Rapha founder and chief executive Simon Mottram said the investment from RZC would allow the company to expand and develop more products.

"It heralds the start of the next stage of our journey and is testament to the growth and potential that people see in Rapha and cycling," said Mottram.

RZC fended off bids from Invus Group and Investindustrial, an Italian private equity firm that is a shareholder in Aston Martin.

High bid expectations of shareholders, which saw the company potentially valued at more than 20 times annual profits, reportedly put off some prospective investors.

Rapha, partly owned by Active Private Equity, sells upmarket cycling gear through 20 websites and ships goods to more than 100 countries. It also has 17 “clubhouse” retail sites in major cities around the world.

Founded in 2004, it has more than 200,000 active customers and 450 employees.

In the year to January, revenue jumped 30% to £63mln as the company benefits from a fast-growing interest in cycling in the UK and abroad thanks to sports events including Tour de France and the Olympics.

 

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