History
The company was established in 1998.[4] The company has generally followed a strategy of buying struggling brands and returning them to profitability.[5] ASI purchased Fuji Bikes in 1998 after Fuji's sales had declined due to missing the mountain biking boom.[6] It soon repositioned the brand from a mass-market brand sold mainly in sporting goods stores to a higher-end brand sold by more independent bicycle dealers.
In 2007, the company's total revenue was $50 million, with about 5% market share among bikes sold by independent dealers.[1] By 2015, that had grown to $105 million.[2]
It is associated with the Taiwanese bicycle manufacturer Ideal Bike Corp.[7]
ASI bought Breezer Bikes in 2008,[8][9] the bicycle component manufacturer Oval Concepts in 2009,[10][11] and Phat Cycles in 2015.[12] Other brands it has purchased include Fuji Bikes, SE, Kestrel, and Tuesday Cycles.[13]
In August 2016, ASI purchased the bicycle retailer Performance Bicycle (owner of the e-commerce site and retailer Nashbar) for an undisclosed amount.[14][15][16] As part of the deal, a new parent company called Advanced Sports Enterprises was created to "oversee brand development, wholesale and retail operations, while ASI’s wholesale and Performance Bicycle’s retail operations would be separately managed."[17][18]
The parent company ASE filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy two years later,[19] listing debts of more than $100 million.[20]
Most of ASE's assets, including some Performance Bicycle stores, were tentatively purchased at a bankruptcy auction in January 2019 by the Amsterdam-based company Head Sport for $21.5 million.[21] Another asset, the Roubaix bike trademark, was purchased by Specialized Bikes for $700,000.[22] However, the deal fell through, and in February 2019, ASI was purchased for $16.1 million and split among three entities---Amain.com Inc, K&B Investment Corporation, and BikeCo, a partnership of Tiger Capital Group and Advanced Holdings.[23] Amain received the Performance and Nashbar businesses and trademarks, K&B Investment Corporation received ASE's property and buildings, and BikeCo received ASI and its wholesale businesses and bike trademarks.[24]
In August 2019, ASE, renamed AE Bike Liquidation, Inc., sent letters against 30 suppliers seeking to recover "so-called "preferential payments" that suppliers received from Performance and the other brands in the weeks before than bankruptcy filing."[25] The payments, if recovered, would go towards the company's bankruptcy obligations. Seven suppliers settled. In November 2020, lawsuits were filed against the other 27 for a total of $2.6 million.[26]
