Halfords steps up cycling strength with Boardman acquisition

Retailer Halfords has strengthened its focus on cycling with the acquisition of the bicycle-making business set up by former Olympian and Tour de France rider Chris Boardman for an unspecified fee. The FTSE 250 company, which already exclusively sells some Boardman bikes in the UK, Ireland and US, has acquired Boardman Bikes Limited and Boardman International Limited. It said its full year guidance for 2015 provided on May 22nd 2014 remained unchanged on the announcement.Both the Boardman Performance series for serious leisure cyclists and Boardman Elite series for professional and amateur bike racers are sold internationally by leading distributors and retailers.Boardman Bikes will remain a standalone entity and will continue to be led by current Managing Director Andy Smallwood and Boardman himself as Chairman and Design Director.Halfords Chief Executive Matt Davies said: "Our investment in Boardman Bikes, which have been ridden by multiple Olympic and world champions, demonstrates our growing position as a specialist cycling retailer. "We have worked with Chris and his team since 2007; they have created one of the most important, fastest-growing and successful brands in UK cycling. We look forward to a continuation of the growth that both Boardman and Halfords have enjoyed with such a strong brand."Boardman added: "We look forward to building on the success we have had to date with independent retailers, in international markets and with Halfords. This step will take the brand to the next level and their backing will allow us to further develop our research & development and extend our award-winning cycling ranges." Analyst Matthew McEachran at broker N+1Singer told DigitalLook/Sharecast the deal was "good news strategically" as it secured the part of the business which is expected to grow most strongly and means Halford no longer needed to pay away royalties to Boardman.He added that it was hard to know how good the deal is given the market hasn't been made aware of what royalty rate Halfords was previously paying to Boardman Bikes, if there were already changes scheduled to that rate, or what price has been paid for the acquisition. Despite the company's leaving guidance unchanged McEachran said he suspected the deal will be earnings enhancing next year.Shares in Halfords were down 0.6% to 493.6p by 12:50 on Wednesday. OH Halfords