Respected newswire Reuters is reporting that Cycle Gear is close to finalizing the purchase of motorcycling e-commerce giant RevZilla. Citing a source “familiar with the matter” at hand, Reuters suggests that the deal could close in the next coming days, with the new venture worth between $400 million and $500 million.
If true, this acquisition would mark a titanic shift in the motorcycle retail space, with America’s largest brick and mortar chain combining with the industry’s most prominent online parts and apparel purveyor.
For those who don’t know, RevZilla is based out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was founded by Nick Auger, Anthony Bucci, and Matthew Kull. The company is routinely spotlighted as one of Philadelphia’s business success stories.
Similarly, Cycle Gear is based out of Benicia, California, has 0ver 100 stores in 34 states, and is owned by the private equity firm J.W. Childs. In all likelihood, it is J.W. Childs that will be doing the purchasing of RevZilla, though that might be an issue of semantics for some.
With the two brands living in the same house, it would be impossible to think of their not being a collaboration of some sort between the two. After all, good business sense for J.W. Childs wouldn’t see the firm acquiring RevZilla and allowing it still to compete with the CycleGear.com property.
We imagine that this move stems from Cycle Gear’s need to push meaningfully into the online space. As such, Cycle Gears acquisition could be just as much about buying knowledge and technology, as it is a thriving business.
For those keeping track, this acquisition would be the second e-commerce deal to happen in the motorcycle space so far this year, with Pro Italia Online passing hands from the Southern Californian dealership to AMS Ducati Dallas.
This shows not only a fair bit of movement in the online retail space for motorcycles, but also signs that the economy is bouncing back and that people have faith in the future of the motorcycle industry.
RevZilla declined to comment on this report, at this time. We hope to have more on this story, as it develops.
Source: Reuters
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