Fox acquires Race Face and Easton Cycling

Fox Factory Holding Corp. (otherwise known as Fox Racing Shox) announced today it has agreed to acquire nearly all the assets of Race Face Components and Easton Cycling. The acquisition comes at a price tag of approximately $30.2 million, financed with debt, and the deal should be finalized by the end of the year.

It is another change in ownership for the two brands, as each has changed hands in the last few years. Race Face was resurrected from bankruptcy in 2011, and earlier this year it purchased Easton Cycling after it had been spun off from what was Easton Bell Sports, and most recently BRG (Bell, Riddel, Giro).

“This transaction demonstrates the execution of our strategic initiatives to increase FOX’s product penetration into both existing and adjacent product categories to help drive our bike sales and profitability long-term,” said Larry L. Enterline, FOX’s chief executive officer in a press release. “We look forward to leveraging our global marketing, engineering, distribution, and supply chain resources to collectively develop next-generation, high-performance bicycle ride dynamics solutions.”

Translation: If a brand like Fox can offer larger packages of components, from forks to wheels to cockpit and beyond, it makes it more attractive to OE suppliers. Will we see Fox branded wheels? Probably not. But look for design and manufacturing details to spread between the brands.

Representatives at Fox were unable to comment until the first of next year.