BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
A current topic on the bulletin board is the financial status of Cannondale. Theres still a strong rumour doing the rounds that Cannondale has gone kaput in Europe.
Not true, says Beppo Hilfiker, president, Cannondale Europe. A month ago the rumours gained momentum and Cannondale issued a press statement denying the company was in financial straits.
News of this statement was carried on bikebiz.co.uk but, like an urban myth that just wont die, the rumours are still rife. Heres Hilfikers second denial:
I’d like to take this opportunity to categorically deny any and all rumours you may have heard about Cannondale declaring bankruptcy or going out of business.
We are privileged to work with the best bicycle dealers in Europe, who of course are smart enough to know the as a public company (our stock is traded in the U.S. on the NASDAQ exchange), we are under very, very strict obligations imposed by the United States Security and Exchange Commission to publicize any significant developments within our company.
Thats why we issue formal news releases announcing our quarterly results, our annual results, and any other important news that might affect the value of our stock. If our company were bankrupt, or if there was any material change to our capitalization we would absolutely have to publicize that fact with a formal announcement and news release, or we would incur the wrath of the S.E.C. Given this fact, those spreading the rumours are only emphasizing their own ignorance of common business practices.
Are we such a threat to our competitors that they feel squeezed into circulating false rumors about our company? And while most of our competitors are honourable, its an unfortunate fact that it only takes a handful of desperate, unscrupulous firms to keep such rumours alive no matter how ludicrous those rumours might be. So be it. And while they are busy forging fantasies, we are hard at work taking their market share.
The truth of the matter is that Cannondale is in very sound fiscal condition. We just signed a strong five-year financing agreement, and we continue to introduce innovative new cycling technologies from CAAD5 and CAAD6 road models to new Jekyll models and Carbon-Lefty forks with Electronic Lockout at a pace unmatched by our competitors.
In fiscal 2000 our bicycle division reported $8.7m in profits (numbers on file with the SEC). I offer a bottle of good Champagne to any of our European competitors that can demonstrate an equally impressive number over the past 2 years combined."
