Brompton sells stakes to Decathlon and Chinese Labubu backer

The French sports gear retailer Decathlon and a Chinese investment group that was an early backer of Labubu soft toys have bought stakes in the British folding bike maker Brompton, as its boss said the cycling market was recovering from a slump in sales.Decathlon has acquired a 10% stake in the manufacturer while BA Capital has bought 5% in a deal understood to collectively be worth about £18m.Brompton said the new investments would enable staff, including the chief executive, Will Butler-Adams, and long-term investors to realise some cash from the sale of shares, while also bringing in market knowledge, supply chain efficiency and technology from the brand’s new investors.“We are in this partnership to learn,” Butler-Adams said of the new deal with Decathlon-pulse" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="155336" data-entity-type="organization">Decathlon Pulse, the chain’s investment arm which has previously backed brands including the bike computer maker Magene and sports watch Coros.He said BA Capital, which also holds a stake in the bicycle brand Tenways as well as Labubu maker Pop Mart, would bring expertise on China, which is now Brompton’s biggest market.Franck Vigo, the chief executive of Decathlon-pulse" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="155336" data-entity-type="organization">Decathlon Pulse, said: “What convinced us goes beyond the product: we share the same values, a strong culture of quality, and a long-term vision of sustainable urban mobility. This partnership is about scaling that model while preserving what makes Brompton truly unique.”Brompton bikes, which cost from £999 to almost £6,000 for a top-of-the-range titanium ebike, will for the first time will go into dedicated “Brompton corners” in a handful of Decathlon stores.“We want to bring our bikes to a wider audience,” Butler-Adams said. He said that, despite cost of living challenges which continue to hold back sales of new bikes in Europe, the industry was now “over the worst” after a slump in sales following a pandemic boom and “cycling is in the ascendant.”He said cities around the world were adding bike lanes amid increasing interest in healthy living and pollution-free transport.Brompton chief executive Will Butler-Adams and long-term investors will realise some cash from the sale of shares. Photograph: Jill Mead/The GuardianButler-Adams said many shareholders had backed Andrew Ritchie, who designed the bike in his shed in 1975 and set up the company, while staff also needed an opportunity to raise money from the sale of some of their share bonuses. Ritchie remains the largest shareholder.“A lot of shareholders have owned shares for 50 years,” Butler-Adams said, with many now in their 80s or having passed the investment on to their children. “Those shareholders have been, by and large, unbelievably supportive but they have to live their lives as well.”Butler-Adams took the helm in 2008, taking a significant stake in the business after a conversation with its then chair on a bus persuaded him to leave aside plans for an MBA.Butler-Adams told the Guardian he mortgaged his home to support Brompton through some tough times as a pandemic-era boom in cycling sales turned into a crash as households reined in spending on new bikes once roads became busier and they returned to offices and schools.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionHe said the UK was not doing enough to encourage and support entrepreneurs who make a “massive personal commitment” to growing a business, meaning that “most people just go and work for a bank or a consultancy.”“We need to create an environment of ambition with job and wealth creation,” he said.He added that the UK government should crack down on the sale of illegal ebikes, which were dangerous because they “not only go too fast but because of how they are made”, which in some cases had led to battery fires.“Well made quality ebikes are phenomenal for society and we have evidence of that in northern Europe,” he said. “[But] weak control of illegal ebikes is hampering the ebike market [in the UK].”Brompton had to reduce staff numbers amid an increase in employers’ national insurance contributions and other tax changes, and its workforce dropped by about 50 to 790 people. The number of bikes it sold fell 7.5% in the year to March 2025, to 78,530.The total value of its sales fell 1% to £121.5m, but pre-tax profits rose to £130,476 from less than £5,000 a year before as the company cut costs.Butler-Adams said sales rose slightly in the year to March 2026 but profits were depressed by the company’s decision to invest in expansion, including new stores and new versions of its bike.