Blue Bicycles back from the brink of colapse

WILMINGTON, Del. (BRAIN) — Blue Competition Cycles, which has been off the market for nearly two years, has been sold; the new owners and management say it will begin shipping 2014 model bikes this month.

The new owner is Minds Group LLC, a private company based in Wilmington, Del. Steven Harad, who was CEO of Blue under its previous ownership, remains with the company as acting CEO.

“All sights are set on moving forward,” said Harad. “We’re thrilled to have stable backing, and are primed to bring the Blue Bicycles brand back to prominence as an industry leader in aero bikes.”

Blue was founded by  Michael and Jay Skop;  Lake Rudd Capital Partners agreed to purchase the brand from the Skops in late 2012. A few months later, Divine Cycle Group announced that it had purchased Blue, but Divine officials later said the purchase was never actually completed. Divine is now bankrupt.

During 2013, Harad had built a new sales force and led a team that developed a new line of 2014 models and started work on 2015 model. However, when the expected purchase by Divine did not happen, the brand was out of money, and hundreds of completed 2014 bikes remained in the hands of an Asian factory, unpaid for.

They include the Triad SL triathlon bike,  the AC1 road bike, and the Norcross cyclocross bike. He said 2015 models will debut at this year’sInterbike.

The acquisition also includes Aerus Components and Aerus Bags.

Blue’s domestic and international sales operations will move to Wilmington, with East and West Coast warehousing/distribution being established soon, Harad said. He said former Blue sales manager, Daniel Stallings, will return to the company.