Business booming at Colnago since Abu Dhabi investment, bike brand states — with sales "more than tripled"

Colnago is "on the right track" to becoming "the most desirable bicycle brand in the world", according to its CEO Nicola Rosin, the Italian manufacturer seeing sales "more than tripled in three years" since the company was bought by an Abu Dhabi investment firm.

The bike brand shared a press release this afternoon with a few selected financial figures for 2023, although far from a full report. In the release, Colnago said that its sales for 2023 were €55,715,101 (£48 million) and its EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) were €14,015,100 or 25.15 per cent of turnover.

A graph charting the increase in sales was also included — which the brand says have "more than tripled in three years" since the historic Italian bike manufacturer was bought by Chimera Investments LLC, part of Abu Dhabi's Royal Group and Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan's business empire. It also shows the increase in EBITDA since the takeover.

According to Colnago, turnover was up a third on 2022 (33 per cent), while EBITDA "grew significantly" by 106 per cent. The brand's history, "large global community of enthusiasts", and "clear positioning at the top of the dropbar segment of the cycling market" were attributed as factors explaining the success.

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CEO Rosin said: "Our mission is to be the most desirable bicycle brand in the world. At this point, of course, we think we are on the right track.

"Colnago is a well-organised company, with capable managers and a great sense of belonging. The opportunity to have two great teams in the WorldTour, both male and female, UAE Team Emirates and UAE Team ADQ raises the level of their demands and stimulates us daily to improve our product.

"We also have a property that wants success and constant growth, but achieving them in a healthy way: a harmonious governance allows us managers to carry out our work in the most serene way possible. This is really worth a lot."

The brand was founded by Ernesto Colnago in 1952 in his home town of Cambiago, just to the north east of Milan, with the company's frames having triumphed in all of cycling's biggest races and been ridden by some of the biggest names in the sport, perhaps most famously, Eddy Merckx, and more recently Tadej Pogačar.

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In 2020, Chimera Investments bought a controlling stake in the business, the firm's 92-year-old founder maintaining a small stake in the business.

At the time of the takeover, a Chimera Investments spokesperson said: "Chimera Investments will give Colnago the ability to grow and increase its presence in all markets, while maintaining and improving the quality of Colnago products. We have a unique opportunity with the support of Chimera to ensure that we continue to build the world's best bikes well into the future.

"From all the fans of Colnago, we would like to thank the master of the design and invention of great bikes Ernesto Colnago, and we would like to follow his path and move forward in his legacy bringing Colnago to a bright future as no-one else would. Mister Colnago will always be the Godfather and the guiding force of the new developments."