Published April 18, 2008 07:50AM
A Swiss group, along with some company managers, buy Pedro's USA back from Swix
A Swiss investment group, along with some of the company's managers, is buying Pedro's USA back from Swix Sport USA, the ski company that has owned Pedro's for the last decade.
Sport adventures International S.A., based in Lausanne, Switzerland, teamed with managers to buy the company. Long-time Pedro's executive Chris Zigmont will become the company's new CEO.
By Matt Pacocha
Pedro’s new CEO, Chris Zigmont
Photo: Matt Pacocha
A Swiss investment group, along with some of the company’s managers, is buying Pedro’s USA back from Swix Sport USA, the ski company that has owned Pedro’s for the last decade.
Sport adventures International S.A., based in Lausanne, Switzerland, teamed with managers to buy the company. Long-time Pedro’s executive Chris Zigmont will become the company’s new CEO.
Zigmont, at the Sea Otter Classic this week, invited the bike world to think of the new ownership as “Pedro’s 3.0.” The first edition would be the founding of the company in the 1980s by college buddies Andrew Herrick and Bruce Fina. Version 2.0 would be its purchase by Swix, a company best known for its ski wax and poles.
As for version 3.0, Zigmont said SaVI is a small investment group focused on sports, lifestyle and wellness brands.
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“The folks there get it,” said Zigmont. “They ride really hard. They are hardcore backcountry skiers; they’re always telling stories about skinning up this and bombing down that … These guys play pretty hard.”
Zigmont believes the partners’ business experience will help push Pedro’s to the next level, while adhering to its earth-friendly business practices and consumer products.
“We’ve had incredible response to what we’re doing from both consumers and dealers, kind of getting back to those critical building blocks of Pedro’s in the old days: the Milk Levers and BioCleaner and Orange Peelz,” said Zigmont. “It seems like every time we tried to do something that was functional but environmentally intelligent, people responded very well.”
The sale will close May 1st and the company’s U.S. headquarters will move one door down from the space it has shared with Swix in Wilmington, Massachusetts. Zigmont said the company is likely to move into a different location at the end of the year.