KTM Industries AG, to be known in the future as Pierer Mobility, has announced a joint venture "industrial co-operation" with Gas Gas Motorcycles as part of a plan to "further develop its presence in Spain".
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| KTM Industries AG Chairman Stefan Pierer |
In a statement released at the start of October, the company said that "KTM Industries has successfully concluded negotiations with Black Toro Capital - the owners of Gas Gas Motorcycles - about a future industrial co-operation with the famous Spanish motorcycle brand Gas Gas under the lead of KTM Industries AG.
"A cooperation was signed and both partners see this as a starting point for a bright future of the internationally well known brand Gas Gas. New models will be developed alongside the Trial and Enduro bikes of Gas Gas.
"As part of the joint venture, the production of Gas Gas products and Torrot electric vehicles will be continued at Girona/Spain.
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| Announced in 2018 after winning the inaugural Trial-E Cup in the hands of Marc Colomer, the 67 kg Gas Gas TXE with electric gear drive was said at the time to be the world's first ever production electric trials bike to incorporate the double solution of a mechanical clutch system and six-speed gearbox. The TXE uses the same tubular chromium-molybdenum steel chassis as the Gas Gas TXT and a highly efficient electric engine developed by Torrot. |
"It is intended that Gas Gas will be added, alongside KTM and Husqvarna Motorcycles and eBikes, as a third brand to the strong sales network of the KTM Industries Group (Pierer Mobility Group)". KTM says the deal is "subject to anti-trust authority approval".
The KTM Industries Group already points to its status as Europe's largest manufacturer of powered two-wheelers and that "strategic partnerships at an operational level [such as this Gas Gas deal] strengthen the competitiveness in our respective markets" with the "high innovation level" of the Pierer Mobility Group ensuring "sustainable organic growth".
Just as is the case with KTM itself, Gas Gas and Torrot are "comeback kids" and storied brands. Gas Gas had its near-death experience when it filed for bankruptcy protection in 2015, facing probable liquidation with reported debts of 44.3m euro.
The KTM deal has been struck with Black Toro Capital (BTC), a private equity investor specialised in Spanish and southern European business opportunities with offices in Barcelona, Madrid and London.
BTC acquired 60% of Barcelona-based eBike and hybrid vehicle manufacturer Torrot in November 2015 in a 15m euro deal. BTC/Torrot then completed a judicial liquidation sale for Gas Gas for an additional 9m euro - taking their total investment to 23m euro. BTC then merged the two businesses and consolidated production at the Salt, Girona factory, retaining 63 Gas Gas employees - the factory having been reduced to a skeleton staff to service demand for parts for some 18 months.
The combined business being managed by the Torrot management team - headed up by Torrot "re-founder" and CEO Ivan Contreras - who retained the remaining 40% ownership stake in the combined business. However, the two brands have maintained separate design and marketing strategies.
At the time there were several potential buyers competing for Gas Gas, including KTM themselves, along with French manufacturer Sherco and a rival investment fund called IRG.
In response to the reported interest from KTM in 2015, some 55 former Gas Gas employees gained international profile when they vociferously endeavoured to dissuade KTM from trying to acquire the brand and its assets from the liquidator. In the end the BTC/Torrot bid of 9m euro emerged as the preferred bid after the former employees had petitioned the Commercial Court of Girona to accept it rather than a KTM or any other deal as quickly as possible.
Torrot itself is also a storied brand. Founder Don Luis Iriondo started making bicycles and mopeds in the late 1940s. In the 1950s he had a partnership with French brand Terrot (producing the Terrot Dijon 100 among other models).
In 1958 Peugeot bought Terrot, but closed it two years later. In order to rebuild his business, Don Luis Iriondo changed the brand's spelling from "Terrot" to "Torrot" and went back to carving out his own place in the market. These days the Barcelona-based Torrot Group makes electric bicycles, trial bikes and kids' minis. Torrot eventually closed in the 1980s, but was brought back to life in 2011.
Gas Gas was founded in 1985, emerging from the rubble left when the original Bultaco factory closed (for the second time) in 1983.
By 2015 Gas Gas had been short of capital for some time. It had received a 4 million euro investment from an international consortium in 2013, with the Catalan government agreeing to provide Gas Gas with a further 2 million euro to fund a recovery plan for the company in 2014.
In 2014 it was announced that Gas Gas would merge with Ossa and relaunch that brand, having previously agreed to share production facilities and personnel. Ossa itself had been relaunched in 2009, three decades after its own original closure.
Also in 2014, Gas Gas reached an agreement with Moto Italia S.r.l., the former Husqvarna Motorcycles S.r.l, to acquire their two and four-stroke engine technology, a deal that had the approval of KTM at the time, KTM having acquired the Husqvarna Motorcycles brand from BMW in early 2013, just five years after BMW had bought it from the then Cagiva MV Agusta group.
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| The Torrot Velocipedo Cargo - a last mile delivery and courier electric three-wheeler with 40 kg/210 L capacity and a range of 120 km. |
Under BTC ownership, Torrot has prospered, developing its own range as well as investing in the Gas Gas facility at Salt, near Girona, where production has been consolidated. By 2018 BTC/Torrot had funded the introduction of the Gas Gas TXE (electric gear drive), the first ever electric trials production model to combine a mechanical clutch system with a six-speed gearbox.
In 2015 Torrot had launched the Muvi electric two-wheeler and announced the 'Velocipedo' in 2017, a three-wheeled, 100% electric vehicle with a range of around 100 miles, featuring regenerative braking, a carbon fibre structure and e-call technology. In 2018 Torrot unveiled the 'Movak' - an urban all-roader and opened its first Torrot/Gas Gas flagship store in Madrid.
Having made and sold some 6,000 models overall in 2016, Gas Gas/Torrot is said to have sold some 16,000 units in 2017 - over 6,000 of them Gas Gas models.
At the time of press the precise nature of the deal between BTC and KTM hadn't been entirely disclosed but it appears that, for now at least, it does not involve KTM taking an equity position; it is also unclear as to whether the partnership also involves Torrot brand vehicles, or just Gas Gas.
