Wiggle to buy online rival Chain Reaction Cycles?

Wiggle "HQ" moving to Ireland to benefit from new tax relief for corporations?

CRC and Wiggle kept as seperate entities apart from being owned by same venture capital investors

you don't buy a "brand" (CRC) that has taken years to build, to then shutter it?

I just hope they keep the show room in Doagh, beyond that, meh.

(Though I am always baffled when a capatilist society wails and gnashes its teeth over the capitalist system.)

Quote:

A combined total of £320 million is now less than  £295 million?

The difference is down to my returns & warranty claims 

Interesting Wiggle have bough CRC rather than a bricks retailer like Evans....or is that the next step in market domination!

www.epo.me.uk

This HQ and Ireland stuff. It's Northern Ireland, yes. So, UK still?

Oh Dear not good news as far as I am concerned, had dealt with both until I had problems returning a light to wiggle they would not refund me the full amount as I had used said light (my reason for return was the beam was to wide for road use) I did ask them how to evaluate a light without switching it on but......

CRC on the otherhand have always been as good as gold and they will (or should that be would?) take returns up to a year after purchase.

Time to look for decent LBS & Pro Mechanics/Specialists.....   ....being a Mobile Mechanic, I buy a lot of kit in from the EU due to the structure of Distributors etc in the UK.... we'll be doomed if we leave the EU... and Cyclists will have to have deeper pockets... This CRC/Wiggle merger isn't good for anyone apart from private equity firms....  

Not good for lack of choice in the market for the buyer.  Couldn't get disc's I wanted from Wiggle but could from CRC - I wonder what will happen to the lines that one stocks and the other doesn't?

Please no.

My source says the deal is done

Private equity firm in tax avoidance based competitor buy out. Not good for choice not good for the economy. Support your local shop.

"In 2014, Wiggle had 2014 sales of £167.9 million while turnover at Chain Reaction Cycles was £153.4 million the same year."

"even the combined 2014 sales come in short of the £295.2 million that we calculate Halfords derived from cycling in the year to March 2015."

Eh? What am I missing here?

Come on, there are loads of online shops for bike gear.  I've just bought a tool from Clee Cycles that neither Wiggle nor CRC had, and I'd never heard of them before I started looking.

I stopped using CRC a while back anyway because they wouldn't stop sending me spammy emails asking me to review my purchases.  Not even an unsubscribe link.

I doubt we're just going to see one big Wiggle and CRC disappear. The value of buying CRC has surely got to be the brand and existing customer base. If you just close CRC and maybe sell Vitus and other CRC names through Wiggle you've got a good chance that customers don't all go to Wiggle bit look elsewhere.
I'd personally be expecting to see two more distinct brands allowing them to be more specialised, but also have lower costs, combined distribution network, and more buying power. There's lots of online competition and people will quickly to keep them honest, but I expect Halfords will really have to up their game to hold onto the market share that Chwiggleaction will surely want a piece of. So looks good to me.

I can't believe so many people are crying "monopoly!"

If the Gov't didn't intervene when Virgin won both London to Scotland rail routes they'll hardly intervene when one company decides to buy another one in the same market sector.

I bet they HQ in Northern Ireland which is about to cut its corporation tax rate (to 'compete' with Republic of Ireland)... That's what private equity firms (owners of Wiggle) do.

Two points, good and bad.

Firstly it shows you how well both these companies are doing and by extension how popular cycling is.

However it does mean less competiton. These two are the biggest online retailers for the same reasons; price, availibility, selection and service (relatively).  In my experience if Wiggle didn't have something or it was a bit pricey then I'd usually turn to CRC. If they price match or, eventually, merge then that option will have gone.

On a postive note, it's great to see two UK companies doing so well and exporting so much.

Its not going to be a monopoly if wiggle buys CRC there are many other online retails, you can count evans and halfords (even though they have actual stores) theres also PBK (pro bike kit), Ribble, Cycle Surgery, Merlin plus probably many others. If the compitition authority gets in on this with so many other stores why didnt they step in when EE was formed from Orange and Vodafone?

Good news for the Wiggle owners/shareholders no doubt,  but some-one having a monopoly on Internet cycling retail is not good news for us.

Can't really see the monopolies commision having a problem with it tbh, not exactly a shortage of online bikeshops.

I think they wold be silly to get rid of one of the names- better to position one of them in a diff part of the market, or leave it well alone 

Not good news, CRC usually stock stuff that Wiggle don't have stock of.  I would've thought the competition commission would be interested in the impact of this deal, seeing as it's not good for the consumer.