Arrowhead Engineered Products to Buy Bihr from Alcopa
Subject to regulatory approval, Blaine, Minnesota based Arrowhead Engineered Products (AEP) has agreed to acquire 100% equity ownership of Bartenheim, France based distributor Bihr from present owner Alcopa of Kontich, Belgium.
AEP is the owner of Vertex Pistons, in Italy, and Boise, Idaho based domestic U.S. distribution major Western Power Sports, among an impressive portfolio of mostly American powersports industry parts and accessory brands such as All Balls Racing, Hot Cams, Pivot Works and Cylinder Works.
Alcopa, which traces its roots in automotive and motorcycle distribution in Belgium and beyond back to 1937, acquired Bihr in 2010. In recent years it has been funding an aggressive strategic acquisition program to grow the Bihr business footprint. This has included the MotoDirect Distribution, RST Apparel and Race FX operations in the UK and, most recently, noted Hamburg, Germany based distributor and brand owner Paaschburg & Wunderlich.
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| John Mosunic, CEO of Arrowhead Engineered Products |
AEP saw a majority stake in its business bought by the massive Genstar Capital private equity firm in the USA last year, having previously been in the ownership of the Investcorp/Bahrain Sovereign Wealth Fund backed Riverside Group.
Bihr was founded in 1975 by industry veteran Cyrille Bihr and these days has a portfolio of some 350 brands (including being a major player for Arai Helmets in Europe) and distributes some 200,000+ SKUs to a growing network of 15,150 dealers across 20 countries from a total distribution centre footprint of over 54,000 sq m.