Raleigh Bicycle Company - History - Reorganization and New Ownership

Reorganization and New Ownership

In 1979, production of Raleigh 531 butted-tube bicycles reached 10,000 units a year. In 1982, rights to the Raleigh U.S.A. name were purchased by the Huffy Corporation. Under the terms of the agreement, Raleigh of England licensed Huffy to design and distribute Raleigh bicycles in the USA, and Huffy was given instant access to a nationwide network of bike shops. The renamed Raleigh Cycle Company of America sold bikes in the US while the rest of the world, including Canada, received Raleigh of England bikes. At that time, production of some Raleigh models were shifted to Japan, with Bridgestone manufacturing most of these bikes. By 1984, all Raleighs for the American market, except the top-of-the range Team Professional (made in Ilkeston) and Prestige road bikes (Made in Nottingham), were produced in the Far East.

In 1987, the leading German bicycle manufacturer Derby Cycle bought Raleigh USA from Huffy. Today, Raleigh Cycle Company of America parts and frames are mass-produced in China and Taiwan for Derby Cycle and assembled in other plants. Raleigh of Denmark still offers traditional rod-brake models. At Raleigh of England, the "Carlton" factory in Worksop experienced strikes and was closed and a few select employees were transferred to Nottingham in 1981. The High-end, one of a kind bicycles and framesets were produced in Ilkeston Special Bicycle Developments Unit (SBDU) from 1974 to 1989 under the guidance of Gerald V O'Donovan, this production was moved to a new "Raleigh Special Products" division in Nottingham.

Raleigh Canada has had a factory in Waterloo, Quebec since 1972.

Derby Cycle acquired Diamondback Bicycles in 1999.

In the same year, Raleigh ceased volume production of frames in the UK and its frame-making equipment were sold by auction.

In 2000, Derby Cycle controlled Raleigh USA, Raleigh U.K., Raleigh Canada, and Raleigh Ireland. In the latter three markets, Raleigh was the number-one manufacturer of bicycles. Derby Cycle began a series of divestitures, due to financial pressure and sold Sturmey-Archer's factory site to the University of Nottingham and Sturmey-Archer and saddle manufacturer Brooks to a small company called Lenark. Lenark promised to build a new factory in Calverton but failed to pay the first instalment and the company entered liquidation. It was reported that the reason for selling the business, after extracting the cash for the factory site, was to have Lenark declare it insolvent so that neither Derby nor Lenark would have to pay the redundancy costs.Sturmey-Archer's assets were acquired by SunRace of Taiwan who relocated the factory to Taiwan and sales to the Netherlands. Sister company Brooks was sold to Selle Royal of Italy.

In 2001, following continuing financial problems at Derby Cycle, there was a management buy-out of all the remaining Raleigh companies led by Alan Finden-Crofts

By 2003, assembly of bicycles had ended in the UK with 280 assembly and factory staff made redundant, and bicycles were to come "from Vietnam and other centres of 'low-cost, high-quality' production." Only the final assembly takes place in the German town of Cloppenburg.

In 2012, Derby — including Raleigh Germany — was acquired by Pon, a Dutch company, as part of their new bicycle group, which also owns Gazelle and Cervélo.

In April 2012, Raleigh UK, Canada and USA were acquired by a separate Dutch group Accell for $100m US, whose portfolio includes the Lappiere and Ghost bicycle brands.