IN BRIEF
Finnish bicycle maker Helkama Velox is buying the rights to the Tunturi brand, the company announced, as reported by the daily Kaleva on 6 October. Founded in Turku in 1922, Tunturi had belonged to the Dutch group Accell since 2003 and filed for bankruptcy in August. After 23 years of foreign ownership, the brand returns to Finland, with the aim of restarting its production and bringing its design back home.
After Accell’s bankruptcy, one of its brands is going home. In Finland, it is Helkama Velox, a domestic bicycle maker, that takes over the rights to Tunturi bikes, a brand more than a century old.
Tunturi back in Finnish hands
Tunturi was born in Turku in 1922. Since 2003 it had been part of the Dutch group Accell, and it filed for bankruptcy in August. MTV Uutiset notes that its bikes had been made in Hungary for around twenty years. With this acquisition, the brand regains a Finnish owner: Kaleva speaks of a return after more than twenty years, while MTV Uutiset counts 23 years of foreign ownership.
Helkama is pleased. Satu Helkama, chair of the board of Helkama Emotor, told MTV Uutiset she was happy to see Tunturi return to Finland as a national consumer brand. Trade magazine Bike Europe reported the deal, linking it directly to Accell’s bankruptcy.
Helkama Velox wants to make Tunturi bikes again
The company sets out its goal in its press release, quoted by Kaleva: to restart production of Tunturi bikes and bring their design back to Finland. It sees opportunities to grow its business and believes the deal could create new jobs in the future, without yet putting a number on them.
The target audience is already defined. MTV Uutiset reports that Tunturi and Helkama are aimed first at working people, and that e-bikes are also suited, according to Helkama, to older people, helping them stay mobile.
