Thule group buys Tepui, maker of roof top tents
Tepui provided tents for the launch of the new electric pick-up truck, the Rivian
The Thule Group, based in Sweden announced that they acquired Santa Cruz, CA-based company Tepui, the leading brand in the Roof Top Tent category. This is a huge validation of this growing category where the tent is carried on the vehicle to allow easy setup as active folks roam and explore the land as they pursue their activities.
This follow’s up last year’s entry by rack maker, Yakima in the Roof Top Tent market. It’s brought more awareness and distribution of these products to a broader market. This will hopefully bring a new level of construction, quality, testing, and integration into this developing category.
The Roof Top Tent category has seen exciting growth with many interest categories such as overlanding (4-wheeling and spending the night) and mountain biking. The Skycamp fundraising campaign on Kickstarter experienced and unprecedented level of funding at well over $2 million. The competitive landscape is outlined well here in this Tent Round-up.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed but we suspect it is a significant one as the Thule Group is a $2 billion company with a signficant world-wide presence with many product categories that enable people to “bring their life.”
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh-PjRC-4BE
“Roof Top Tents offer consumers a great way to utilize their existing vehicles for self-reliant overnight travel to remote destinations, where the journey is the principal goal. The overlanding category has been growing steadily over the last few years and we are very pleased to add this great assortment of high-quality Roof Top Tents and accessories to our broad portfolio of products that cater to consumers who enjoy living an active life. The synergies between the Thule market leading expertise for transport solutions on the vehicle and Tepui Roof Top Tents exist in both consumer marketing and in the supply chain. When combined with the mutual philosophies on high quality, smart engineering and great design, as well as a shared passion for the outdoors, Tepui is a natural fit to our portfolio”, said Magnus Welander, CEO and President of the Thule Group.
Tepui owner experiencing the Northern Lights
Tepui Roof Top Tents are engineered with the quality materials and are designed to easily install to almost any vehicle, often in combination with Thule Roof Racks. From the rugged, off-road adventure to the family camping trip, Tepui tents and accessories are designed to get people outside and experience the world.
Tepui was founded in 2010 by Evan and Gabriela Currid. The company is based out of Santa Cruz, California and led by Evan Currid as President, Bernard Bove as Director of Operations and John Griffith as Director of Sales & Marketing, who will continue to manage the product category for the Thule Group
“Tepui has been dedicated to designing the highest quality Roof Top Tents and accessories, while always remaining focused on constant improvement and enhancing the consumers’ experience. When the Thule Group approached us, the connection between the mindset, product portfolios, and the two brands was obvious. We knew we had found the perfect partner to continue to grow this great product category. I am very excited for everybody involved and look forward to this exciting new chapter for Tepui.” said Evan Currid, President, Tepui Inc.
This is exciting news indeed as roof top tents enter better quality and integration. They’re going to reach a broader audience around the world and encourage people to get out and explore. We are curious to see if the Tepui brand will live and survive the acquisition or if it will be merged in with the powerful Thule brand.
The total purchase price for Tepui Outdoors Inc. was USD 9.5 million, on a debt-free/cash-free basis, with a potential maximum earn-out payment of USD 1.75 million, which is based on revenue performance during the period 2019-2020. Tepui Outdoors Inc. has approximately 20 employees and net sales for 2018 is expected to be approximately USD 6.5 million.
Thule has 2200 employees and Tepui has about 20. Thule can now add ‘carry your tent’ in it its mission statement below:
“Bring your board
Bring your bike
Bring your skis
Bring your gear
Bring your kids
Bring your love
Bring your dreams
Bring your passion
Bring your life. “
The post Thule group buys Tepui, maker of roof top tents appeared first on Mountain Bike Review.