(which of the two of these is the stronger company?)
Sun Metal Products, Inc. Announces Highly Anticipated Acquisition of Ringlé Components Inc.
10 March 1997 - Warsaw, Indiana - Sun Metal Products, Inc., parent company of Sun Rims and a leading manufacturer of a variety of aluminum rims and wheels, is proud to announce the acquisition of Ringlé Components, Inc. Ringlé is one of the bicycling industry's most innovative designers of components. This highly anticipated acquisition is Sun's first diversification move toward offering a full-line wheel program to the U.S and international markets.
Sun Metal Products, Inc. has been a major manufacturer of wheels and rims for more than 50 years. Sun supplies wheels for a variety of items of which a few examples are: wheelchairs, golf carts, scooters and lawn and garden equipment. Sun Rims, a subsidiary of Sun Metal, is one of the industries most innovative manufacturers of both alloy and composite rims for the bicycling industry. Their design of rims like the new BUZZ composite and their dedication to customer service have showcased Sun Rims as setting industry standards.
Sun president, Robert Piecuch, states,"We are excited about joining forces with Geoff Ringlé and his team at Ringlé Components. Geoff is well known in the bike industry for his innovative products and creative thinking. The Ringlé acquisition is a perfect fit in Sun's plans to broaden it's line of wheel components and to expand into marketing other bicycle parts.
Ringlé Components and Sun Rims are no strangers to each other's products. They currently market several joint products that feature many of Sun's alloy and composite rims paired with the excellence of Ringlé hubs. Allan Hightower, Sales Director at Sun forecasts that,"this merger has been in the works since the Philly Interbike show. It made sense then and it makes sense today ­ Geoff is a designer and his talents are in product design. The immediate benefit will be in complete wheel designs ­ the future benefits will be in allowing Geoff the freedom to design products for the high-end user as well as products that can be specced OEM."
Geoff Ringlé, president and owner of Ringlé Components Inc. remarks, "This is clearly a situation where 1+1=3. There is tremendous synergy, without overlap, between the Sun and the Ringlé product lines. The new Ringlé Division of Sun Rims will now have the resources to compete in new sections of the market and turn up the heat on some of those back burner projects."
Ringlé Components Inc. is one of the bicycling industry's most respected designers of hubsets and other components. They are best recognized for producing extremely lightweight, strong and aerodynamic components that surpass all industry standards.
The official announcement came immediately following final paper signing between Sun and Ringlé at the Ringlé facility in Trenton, NJ where manufacturing will continue with no delays. Bicycling enthusiasts can expect to see future combined launches of product starting in the 1997 racing season.
