Giant buys bankrupt Stages Cycling for $20 million, months after filing lawsuit - what next for both?

The world's biggest bike company, Giant Bicycles, has completed the acquisition of smart tech brand Stages Cycling for a reported $20.1 million, just months after the former filed a lawsuit against the latter.

Stages Cycling, known for its power meters, smart stationary bikes, and GPS units, stopped operations in April 2024. At the time, another Giant division, AIPS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD, filed a suit against Stages for $14 million in unpaid bills. In the shake-up, four prominent Stages Cycling team members joined Giant, in part to spearhead the launching of Spia, Inc.

Spia made a bid to obtain the assets of Stages Cycling LLC and its related companies that filed for bankruptcy in June. The 'stalking horse bid', which is an initial bid on the assets of a bankrupt company, set by the bankrupt company itself in consultation with its creditors, was accepted.

Stages filed a proposed Asset Purchase Agreement in June, according to Bicycle Retailer, which set a minimum competing bid at $21.5 million, which includes matching Spia's $20 million stalking horse bid, plus a break-up fee and a $500,000 minimum overbid charge. It followed another subsidiary of Giant, AIPS Technology, a lawsuit against Stages Cycling in February for NT$454 million for unpaid invoices.

This week, Giant's VP of Global Sales and Marketing, Paddy Murray, announced the move in a post to LinkedIn, which said that he and his team are "eager to propel this fantastic brand into the future".

He wrote: "The acquisition will support the Giant Group’s vision to create a comprehensive indoor/outdoor cycling ecosystem, enhance its cycling data capabilities, and enter the commercial fitness market, where it has a 30-year history of manufacturing for other brands. SPIA Cycling Inc. plans to swiftly integrate the Stages Cycling assets into its operations."

“We are thrilled to integrate Stages Cycling’s assets into our organization,” Donald Yu, president of SPIA Cycling Inc, said in the brand's announcement. “This acquisition aligns with our strategic goals and enhances our capabilities in both indoor and outdoor cycling. We are committed to leveraging these assets to drive innovation and deliver greater value to our customers and stakeholders.”

Stages Cycling was founded in 2009 by Jim and Scott Liggett and owned by parent company Foundation Fitness LLC. Through the 2010s, the brand gained traction due to its crank-based power meters which allowed strain gauges to be retrofitted to OEM crank arms at a lower cost than other power meters on the market. Stages Cycling expanded its product line with dual-sided power meter technology, as well as indoor smart bikes such as the Stages SB20.

Stages were one of the first brands to enter the power meter game, and they were hugely successful, before more competition entered the market from Garmin, Wahoo, and 4iiii among others.

Early in 2023, Giant's board approved a $20 million bid to acquire a one-third share in Stages, but that deal didn't go through. Spia's new offer is to acquire Stages Cycling's trademarks and patents in the cycling realm only, and not for the company's commercial gym products produced and sold under Foundation Fitness.

It is understood that Foundation Fitness remains in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Giant's acquisition now means the world's biggest bike manufacturer now has another string to its bow, or spoke to its wheel. Giant and Stages already had an existing relationship, and with some of the latter's top executives already crossing the aisle to join the bigger company, the transition should be comfortable.

Stages had trouble during the pandemic, with the commercial gym products of Foundation less in demand, but the cycling-specific tech should be of continuing benefit for Giant. It also might mean that Giant could start putting Stages meters on its bikes, and that the bike-giant (pun intended) now has an entry into the world of indoor cycling. It could well be a happy marriage.