Five years have passed since the former company owner Claude Jan stopped producing Cilo bikes because the profitability of bike production was no longer right. In 2003, the entire Jan group of companies (including the car dealership and the former Shimano importer Cilo Bike Service) had to file for bankruptcy. At this time, Alain Prenat, owner of the consulting and training company SHEC, had already heard about Cilo and made initial contacts. At the time, SHEC was working with the Swiss federal authorities on various refugee and development aid projects. When Prenat was looking for machines for a new bicycle factory in Africa, he got to know Cilo and was impressed by the Swiss bicycle manufacturer's once glorious history. "Cilo is still very well known in Switzerland today, and the name has a very good reputation," Prenat believes.