The German professional cycling racing team Bora-hansgrohe is facing a majority takeover by Red Bull. This emerges from a statement from the Austrian Federal Competition Authority. Accordingly, a “planned acquisition transaction” was registered on December 29, 2023. According to the announcement, Red Bull plans to purchase 51 percent of RD pro cycling GmbH & Co. KG, run by Bora-hansgrohe team boss Ralph Denk, and RD Beteiligungs GmbH.
“As a partner of the operating company of team manager Ralph Denk, Red Bull will complement the portfolio of the existing long-term main sponsors who continue to be committed to the team in the long term,” said a short statement from the racing team, which announced on Wednesday at the request of the FAZ that they would not comment further on the process and would first wait for the antitrust review, which is necessary before the deal can be concluded.
Red Bull joined the German cycling team as a sponsor in 2021. At that time, team boss Denk said: “Professional cycling is new territory for Red Bull and we’ll see what happens in the future.” There had already been rumors when the Slovenian professional cyclist Primoz Roglic was hired in the summer by the team that was then called Jumbo-Visma. Red Bull is involved in the deal. Denk denied this and only spoke of a project-related partnership. Together with the beverage manufacturer, the German racing team has so far pursued, among other things, a scouting program for U-19 drivers.
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In cycling, Red Bull has so far limited itself to sponsoring individual riders such as Wout van Aert, Thomas Pidcock or Anton Palzer, who has been riding for Bora-hansgrohe since 2021. Now the group apparently wants to expand its commitment. What is interesting in this regard is that Red Bull will not act as a sponsor if the deal is approved by the cartel office, but would act as the majority owner of the operating company and thus as a kind of investor. This suggests a long-term commitment and a concrete plan. The investments in Formula 1 and football have shown that the beverage manufacturer takes a strategic approach to sports sponsorship and has great ambitions when it invests money.
