DT Swiss is a leading supplier of bicycle components with headquarters in Biel and subsidiaries in the USA and Taiwan. The group employs 160 people worldwide and generates annual sales of around CHF 60 million.

Optimal addition and synergy potential
DT Swiss has been producing suspension elements for the rear end of bicycles for around three years. The Biel-based company has been able to position itself well in this segment, particularly among suppliers of high-quality mountain bikes in Europe. There is also a clear trend towards full-suspension lightweight bikes. This gave DT Swiss the impetus to develop its own suspension forks.

With the acquisition of Pace's suspension fork business, this step can now be realized in a much shorter time. DT Swiss expects that the acquisition will enable it to become a system provider at least one year faster than would have been possible with in-house development.

The Pace suspension fork range fits in perfectly with DT Swiss' current product portfolio, which includes high-quality, innovative products in the upper price segment. DT Swiss has also created an excellent starting point for entering the fork business by setting up its own production of carbon parts in Biel. Pace is the pioneer in the use of carbon fibers in the field of lightweight suspension forks. The customer structure and sales channels of Pace and DT Swiss are also almost identical, which will also result in good synergies in sales.

Transfer of production to Biel
With the takeover, production of the suspension forks will be relocated from Kirbymoorside (North Yorkshire) in England to Biel. With this transfer, DT Swiss will initially create around 15 additional jobs at the Biel site. In the medium term, this division is expected to employ up to 50 people. Production in Biel is expected to start in spring 2007. In the run-up to this acquisition, DT Swiss has already significantly expanded the development department in this area and added the new division manager Christian Müller to the management team. Until recently, Christian Müller was European Managing Director of the leading American suspension fork manufacturer Answer/Manitou.

Long-term partnership
DT Swiss has signed a distribution agreement with Pace for the UK market to optimize the distribution of suspension forks and shock absorbers in the UK. Pace will carry the other DT Swiss products in its range as a second importer/wholesaler. This ensures that the Pace employees in England will keep their jobs and continue to be employed as part of the new activity.

The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price and other terms of the takeover.Space bottlenecks
As a result of this acquisition, the existing premises on Solothurnstrasse and Längfeldweg are slowly becoming scarce again. As previously announced, DT Swiss will realize the 2nd stage of the new building in Bözingenfeld by the end of 2009 at the latest. Due to the strong growth, these already approved construction plans will have to be revised again. As early as spring 2006, preliminary talks were held with the real estate department of the city of Biel regarding a reservation for a further plot of building land on Längfeldweg.

Source: DT Swiss press release