Following on the heels of the successful running of the 11th Annual Giant Loop Ride comes word that the Bend-based bag and soft luggage specialist has been bought by USWE Sports AB, a technology award winning and publicly traded backpack company based in Malmö, Sweden. The purchase agreement was signed this week, and the transaction is scheduled to close on July 1. But the deal has been a long time coming…
“I first met the founders of USWE while sitting together at a Dealernews Dealer Expo trade show dinner in 2010, when they were working with my friend Jason Smith to establish distribution in the USA,” recounts Giant Loop founder Harold Olaf Cecil. “Our companies have been on parallel paths since then. I feel like I’ve earned a PhD in small business in the past 15 years — and almost all of the lessons learned the hard way. Look for my new book, How To Build A Retirement Fund In America The Long, Slow, Painful Way — It’s sure to be a top-seller,” he quips.
However, his retirement will have to stay on hold for some time. Cecil will continue to lead the company for at least two years, focusing on the best integration between USWE and Giant Loop. He will also be one of USWE´s largest shareholders. The acquisition provides USWE with a strong position in the premium segment for panniers, saddlebags, tank bags and dry bags for the off-road powersports market. Giant Loop’s Oregon HQ offers USWE a US base of operations for further expansion in North America. Products from both companies are expected to reach new customers from overlap in each company’s pre-existing customer bases, and Giant Loop´s products will be offered through USWE´s global distribution network.
Armadillo Bag LLC, a new UTV and 4×4 brand created by Giant Loop’s founder, is also included in the acquisition. Its focus on international overland travel provides new markets and sales channels for all three companies’ products.
Giant Loop LLC was founded in 2008 by Harold Olaf Cecil. The company designs and manufactures a portfolio of premium products with dual sport and adventure motorcycles as a primary focus and UTVs, snow bikes and snowmobiles representing crossover powersports markets. Product design and development and all other primary business functions are based in Bend, and production is outsourced to USA facilities, as well as factories in Asia. Sales are generated through an omni-channel model, where the split between D2C and B2B is approximately 50/50.
“It’s been an “all-in” poker hand for me, and my family has sacrificed much to help me play a winning hand,” says Cecil. “We finally got big enough that business people with money actually started paying attention a couple years ago, and after having a few different conversations with mega-corporate types and money-obsessed dudes in suits who don’t care about the brand and community we’ve built, the discussion with USWE felt refreshing, like we shared a similar history and values as a company.”
“Giant Loop is a perfect partner for USWE in the USA,” adds Jacob Westerberg, CEO USWE Sports. “We started our companies in the same time period, and our founders met early in each companies’ history. We share similar company values, as well as product design and development vision. Our two product lines also perfectly match each other, where USWE focuses on the rider and Giant Loop focuses on the bike gear. So far, Giant Loop has been developing soft luggage for off-road and adventure motorcycles. However, we see great potential in developing bags and luggage also for e-bikes, mountain bikes and gravel bikes.
“The barrier between a motorcycle and a bicycle is getting more and more blurry, and we would like to provide the best available gear for the new bikes and the new riders. Together, we have already identified several synergies in sales, distribution and manufacturing and we are looking forward to implementing and benefitting from them. I am convinced that this acquisition will massively strengthen both Giant Loop and USWE.”
“Uswe” (pronounced YOU-SWII) is Swedish slang for “kick ass.” The company is highly regarded for its “No Bouncing Monkey” patented harness technology for performance backpacks developed for high impact action sports including off-road motorcycling, mountain biking, trail running, skiing and snowmobiling. The team behind USWE grew up riding off-road motorcycles in the Swedish countryside. Out of frustration with backpack designs of the day, the founders purchased a used industrial sewing machine in 2007 and began creating their own designs — a story that parallels the creation and development of Giant Loop.
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