The expanded Executive Leadership Team consists of Baris Alev (Chief Financial Officer), Adrian Zahnd (Chief Commercial Officer), Reto Aeschbacher (Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Digital Officer) as well as Holger Klinter and Claudio Benelli (Co-Chief Operating Officers). The product managers are Adrian Lutz (Head of Bike) and Gerhard Mollenkopf (Head of Soft Goods), a Head of Footwear will be appointed in due course. 

For more than 65 years, Scott has been dedicated to products and performance in elite sport and is today a leading brand in the sporting goods sector. The new leadership team will lead a transition plan that focuses on Scott's core business while preserving the company's unique passion and culture to stabilize the company after a turbulent time in the sporting goods industry. 

Priority for Bike Business

The bike business, which accounts for more than 80% of the company's revenue, will be a key priority. Here, Scott will invest more in the development of world-class products that reflect its values of innovation, technology and design, while also targeting growth markets such as e-bikes and urban mobility.

The Givisiez-based company will also focus more on its apparel and footwear capabilities, which together with Dolomite are a key revenue driver, and further develop its popular bike, running, winter and outdoor products.

Pascal Ducrot is part of Scott's DNA and has been with the sporting goods manufacturer since 1990. Kim Juwon is known as an investment banker who worked at Credit Suisse. Juwon comes from majority shareholder Youngone.

Originally, Scott searched for a CEO via a headhunter agency after the dismissal of Zaugg. This acquisition does not seem to have worked out - which is hardly surprising, partly because the requirements profile in the job advertisement was probably set unrealistically high.

Changed ownership structure

The first coup in which Scott's ownership structure changed took place in June 2013: the Korean company Youngone Corp. acquired 20.01 percent of the shares in Scott Sports from Givisiez. In response, Youngone Corp. acquired a further 30 percent of Scott's shares for around 100 million dollars in January 2015, making it the majority shareholder with 50.1 percent.

Youngone provided Scott - due to the post-pandemic difficulties in the bicycle industry - with a financial injection of around 150 million Swiss francs at the beginning of 2024.

scott-sports.com