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Apr 25, 2024
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Following its purchase in 2022, Kona parent Kent Outdoors plans to sell the Washington-based bike brand to focus on its watersports businesses.
Attendees to last week’s Sea Otter Classic got a surprise when they dropped by the space where they expected to see Kona Bikes set up. After setting up their 20 foot by 40 foot booth in the expo area near the Sierra Nevada beer tent, they disassembled it Wednesday and drove back to the company headquarters outside Bellingham, Washington. Two days later Kent Outdoors, Kona’s parent, announced that it was seeking a buyer for the bike company.
Kent Outdoors bought Kona Bikes in 2022 and had just recently announced a new $100 million credit line from Eclipse Business Capital, an asset-based lender.
In its press release announcing their plans to sell Kona, Kent Outdoors stated, “This move (selling Kona) allows the company to direct its resources toward investment in its key water sports businesses. The bike industry has faced very significant challenges in the post-COVID world and Kona has not been immune to these headwinds.”
“Within the Kent Outdoors family of brands, we pride ourselves on a robust legacy characterized by resilience and an unwavering ability to overcome hurdles, consistently emerging stronger in the face of adversity,” said C.J. Vlahovich, who leads Kent’s Watersports division. “While the path to improvement has been demanding, our devoted team remains steadfast in our conviction that Kent Outdoors is destined to continue as the foremost innovator in cultivating vibrant brands that elevate outdoor enjoyment for all.”
Kent Outdoors’s Water Sports division includes Bote, HO Sports, Onyx and Liquid Force, among others.
Like many bike brands, the pandemic caused a boom in bike sales for Kona, and once the brand was able to restock following such high sales numbers, it, like many brands, found itself overstocked.
Kona’s plan to right-size its inventory has seen it offer a BOGO—buy one, get one—on its full-suspension models, and some of its budget-oriented models are currently on sale.
Kona produces five different models of e-bikes, including two hardtail eMTBs, a commuter, two gravel e-bikes and one full-suspension eMTB and they offer most of these at multiple price points.
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