NBA star LeBron James buys equity in Canyon Bicycles
NBA star LeBron James buys equity in Canyon Bicycles
The world’s leading consumer-direct bicycle company, Canyon Bicycles GmbH, has announced a US-based equity investment from LRMR Ventures and SC Holdings.
Most notably, LRMR Ventures, owned by NBA great LeBron James and lifelong friend Maverick Carter, joins as an equity investor in the German-based bicycle company. A philanthropist, LeBron is a strong advocate for cycling through the “I Promise” school and his partnership with Lyft bike share. Previous involvement in cycling includes owning a minority stake in Cannondale in 2007 and creating the King for Kids Bike-a-Thon in 2008.
There’s little denying that the star of the Space Jam reboot has some powerful sway in the consumer market, and mega brands such as Nike, Walmart, GMC, AT&T, and Chase bank have all aligned with the Basketball great. And it seems likely that LeBron aims to be a similar asset in helping Canyon Bicycles continue to grow its reach in the United States.
The investment from LRMR Ventures is accompanied by US-based private equity firm SC Holdings. These new investments join Canyon’s existing shareholders, including the majority shareholder Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL).
As private investments in a privately-held company, the exact investment figure has not been shared, but rumours suggest the figure is around US$30M. Those involved are doing this to earn a return on their investment, but equally, a name like LeBron could truly move the needle in growing all facets of cycling – and that’s a good thing for all.
As an unrelated announcement, Robert Kyncl, YouTube’s Chief Business Officer, is now a Canyon board member. The bicycle company has cited that this addition will strengthen its digital capabilities.
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