IN BRIEF
The trustees in Accell’s bankruptcy announced on 15 October the sale of the Dutch brand Sparta to Tenways Technovation Europe, a Chinese-Dutch e-bike company based in Amsterdam. Tenways acquires the brand rights, the associated intellectual property and the production documentation for some of Sparta’s models. The trustees’ announcement gives no price. Sparta was sold separately from Batavus, Koga and Babboe, which went to the Singaporean investor Dutech.
Sparta has a new owner. The Apeldoorn brand, founded in 1917, passes to Tenways, a young e-bike brand born in China in 2021 and now headquartered in Amsterdam. The trustees handling the bankruptcy of Accell, the former parent group, announced it on Thursday 15 October.
Tenways buys Sparta: the brand and its rights
The scope of the sale is precise. Tenways obtains the rights to the Sparta brand, the intellectual property attached to it and the production documentation for a number of models, the ANP news agency reports. The trustees write that the brand is thereby preserved, and that the deal was concluded in close consultation with Accell’s financiers.
The price remains unknown: the 15 October announcement, relayed by ANP, gives no financial terms. ANP also notes that it does not say what the takeover means for jobs. The NieuwsFiets website points out that it is not yet known whether Tenways will put the existing Sparta models back into production or develop a new range under that name.
A separate sale in the break-up of Accell
Accell was declared bankrupt on 11 August by a Dutch court, and 60 bidders came forward to take over its various divisions. Batavus, Koga and Babboe went to Dutech, a Singaporean investor. Sparta, for its part, went through a separate sale process, run by the trustees to “obtain the best possible proceeds for the bankruptcy estate”, they explain in their statement quoted by NOS.
The detail matters: in June, Accell was still announcing that Sparta would be merged into Batavus. With the sale of the rights to Tenways, the way is now open for Sparta to continue as a stand-alone brand, NieuwsFiets points out. The trustees are continuing to sell off the rest of the Accell group, NOS reports.
Tenways, with stated ambitions in Europe
Tenways sells urban and trekking e-bikes in Europe. With Sparta, founded in 1917 in Apeldoorn, it acquires a historic name in Dutch cycling.
