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Ghost: Stop 'Made in Germany, let's go to Turkey and Hungary

Ghost was born 30 years ago in Germany but now, the new owners (the KKR investment group) are implementing a major reorganization.

Ghost Bikes

On the thirtieth anniversary of Ghost, some not-so-brilliant news arrives. The German brand, in fact, will close its factory in Waldsassen, Germany, one of its historical symbols and the usual venue for its presentations. Structure that employs 120 people, 83 of whom will lose their jobs. Ghost is part of Accell Group, a company that has made profound changes to its structure in recent months.

Ghost Factory Racing 2023
Ghost has always been at the forefront of the MTB World Cup, with the Factory women's team

GHOST STORY

The Ghost brand was born in 1993 by two cycling enthusiasts, Uwe Kalliwoda and Klaus Möhwald. At that time they started from the backyard of a house in Waldsassen. These were the beginnings of a company that grew year after year until, in 2008, it aroused the interest of the Dutch group Accell Group, which purchased the company and included it in its portfolio of cycling brands. Together with Lapierre, Haibike and Winora.

Uwe Kalliwoda and Klaus Möhwald
Uwe Kalliwoda and Klaus Möhwald, the 2 owners of Ghost

The Accell group was on the verge of being purchased by the PON group (owner of Cervélo, Santa Cruz, Cannondale, Focus) but no deal was concluded. Then another investor was found and it was purchased (2022) by the American multinational investment fund (private equity) KKR & Co.

Now comes the closure of the historic Ghost factory in Germany, although this does not mean the closure of the brand, but only a shift in production, which will now be in Turkey and Hungary.

ghost e-riot en
Ghost e-riot

On a financial level, the Accell Group is not going through its best moment like other large business groups in the sector. The main example is how the ratings agencies S&P and Fitch lowered their ratings last summer. Largely due to existing inventory levels, which they described as 70% higher than pre-pandemic levels.

The Accell Group has also made a splash in the world of sports, as its sponsorship with Lapierre of the professional team Groupama-FDJ was ended after 22 years of union.

tibaut-pinot-lapierre
Lapierre ends its sponsorship with Team Groupama FDJ


Written by

[email protected] I am a fan of everything that has 2 wheels: at a young age I practiced road and track cycling (Italian Allievi champion). At the age of 18 I passed into the cross country competing at national/international level as an Under23. Past Elite, I made the choice to take things more lightly from a training point of view, and my love for gravity disciplines was born, training me as an FCI MTB instructor and guide. Now I have made passion my profession by managing 2 MTB centers on the island of Elba (Bike Center Elba and Elba MTB), creating the FANTAmtb and telling in an ironic but professional way everything that revolves around MTB thanks to 365mountainbike and 365TV (YouTube'PULITI dentro BIKER fuori').

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