Kona Bicycle Brand To Be Sold
Following its purchase in 2022, Kona parent Kent Outdoors plans to sell the Washington-based bike brand to focus on its watersports businesses.
Kent Outdoors bought Kona Bikes in 2022 and had just recently announced a new $100 million credit line from Eclipse Business Capital, an asset-based lender.
In its press release announcing their plans to sell Kona, Kent Outdoors stated, “This move (selling Kona) allows the company to direct its resources toward investment in its key water sports businesses. The bike industry has faced very significant challenges in the post-COVID world and Kona has not been immune to these headwinds.”
“Within the Kent Outdoors family of brands, we pride ourselves on a robust legacy characterized by resilience and an unwavering ability to overcome hurdles, consistently emerging stronger in the face of adversity,” said C.J. Vlahovich, who leads Kent’s Watersports division. “While the path to improvement has been demanding, our devoted team remains steadfast in our conviction that Kent Outdoors is destined to continue as the foremost innovator in cultivating vibrant brands that elevate outdoor enjoyment for all.”
Kent Outdoors’s Water Sports division includes Bote, HO Sports, Onyx and Liquid Force, among others.
Kona’s plan to right-size its inventory has seen it offer a BOGO—buy one, get one—on its full-suspension models, and some of its budget-oriented models are currently on sale.
Kona produces five different models of e-bikes, including two hardtail eMTBs, a commuter, two gravel e-bikes and one full-suspension eMTB and they offer most of these at multiple price points.