Munich During the corona pandemic, many people bought a surfboard or a board for stand-up paddling (SUP), which allows you to stand up and paddle across the local lakes. “Our sports convey a holiday feeling at home,” says Till Eberle, head of the water sports brand group Boards & More: “That’s Hawaii at the Baggersee.” Even at Tegernsee, not exactly known as a wind hotspot, kitesurfers are now often cavorting, even in bad weather .
Boards & More had already noticed a similar effect during the financial crisis. Instead of flying expensively on vacation, many Britons bought water sports equipment. “Our industry has often held up well in times of crisis,” says Eberle.
The industry confirms the trend: Karsten Stahlhut, Managing Director of the Federal Water Management Association, spoke of a “phenomenal 2021 season” with regard to boat builders and fun sports. “We have an extremely large number of newcomers and would like to ride this wave longer.”
Since Boards & More is also active in the bicycle industry, which also benefited significantly from the corona pandemic, sales grew by 40 percent to 130 million euros last year. Around half of the growth came from the bicycle component manufacturer Sqlab, which Boards & More acquired last year. This year sales are expected to total 150 million euros.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
The company sees itself as a “brand platform for enthusiasts”. Boards & More wants to establish a few strong brands in its areas – water fun sports and bicycles – above all in the technically more sophisticated and therefore usually higher-margin segment. In an interview with the Handelsblatt, Eberle announced another acquisition in the bicycle segment. He wants to invest in the low double-digit million range, if possible in a component manufacturer.
The CEO of Boards & More invests more in the bicycle segment in case the fun sports market on water weakens.
(Photo: Boards and More)
A big step last year was the takeover of the saddle specialist Sqlab, with which the previous bike segment was strengthened by the brand Ion Bike, which produces bike clothing, protectors and shoes, among other things. Sqlab is best known among cyclists for its saddles, but also develops grips and handlebars, for example.
The owner would also support another acquisition. Boards & More has been part of Emeram Capital Partners, which specializes in investments in medium-sized companies, for almost ten years. They are happy to finance further acquisitions, provided they “accelerate growth and fit in with the existing Boards & More portfolio,” as with Sqlab, Emeram managing partner Christian J. Näther told Handelsblatt.
With the planned takeover, Boards & More wants to balance the portfolio even better. The company was formed in 2000 from the merger of the water sports brands Mistral, F2 and Fanatic. In 2013 the bicycle unit Ion Bike was added.
From today’s perspective, the group’s second mainstay is a good choice. Especially since the beginning of the pandemic, cycling has also been booming in Germany and other countries. According to the Zweirad-Industrie-Verband (ZIV), sales of new bicycles and e-bikes have risen from 3.1 to 6.6 billion euros since 2018. The market for accessories also grew accordingly. “We have jumped to a new level,” says ZIV Managing Director Burkhard Stork.
The market leader in kitesurfing continues to open up new business areas
Another takeover in the bicycle sector could enable Boards & More to better balance the portfolio if the boom in fun sports should weaken. However, 70 percent of Boards & More’s sales are still in the water sports sector.
Boards & More is the world market leader in kitesurfing, by a wide margin, as the company says. When kitesurfing, athletes strap their board to their feet and hold a kind of stunt kite in their hands that pulls them. Boards & More also benefited from the SUP trend. Last year, the company achieved even more sales with stand-up paddling, in which you stand or kneel on a fixed or inflatable board and propel yourself with a long paddle, than with classic windsurfing.
However, it is unclear whether SUP will continue to grow for a long time. According to Technavio forecasts, the market for stand-up paddle boards could grow by an average of six percent over the next few years to reach $108 million by 2025. Eberle is a little more cautious and sees the first signs of a weakening. The business with the comparatively cheap SUP boards, which are sometimes sold by discounters, is rather low-margin anyway. Boards & More can play to its strengths in the technically more demanding premium segment of water sports.
And Eberle expects good growth rates on the market, especially in kitesurfing and so-called “wingfoiling”. Boards & More invented wingfoiling itself: it is based on kitesurfing, but does without the cords to which the sail is attached in kitesurfing. Instead, athletes hold it directly in their hands. “It has established itself as a new sport,” says Eberle. The group is now making more sales with it than with classic windsurfing, which is stagnating.
Eberle financed his studies as a professional snowboarder
Eberle started windsurfing at the age of twelve. He financed his studies – he is an engineer for precision engineering and industrial engineer – as a professional snowboarder. Later he was a product manager at the surf brand Fanatic and worked his way up to managing director of Boards & More.
He is convinced that the markets for bicycles and water sports products will remain larger than before the pandemic. The economic downturn and high inflation have so far not had an impact on the willingness to buy. “The individualists are usually high earners,” says Eberle.
Boards & More’s operating return (EBITDA margin) has also increased significantly and was in the low double-digit percentage range last year. “We are a very profitable company for the sporting goods industry,” says Eberle.
The owners like it too. “We are very satisfied with the development, because the company has been able to expand its market leadership and successively build up new business areas through its innovative strength for years,” says Emeram partner Näther. Boards & More has been growing continuously under its own steam for ten years.
More: Demand for real estate on the water unabated