Bollé Brands to sell Cébé

Bollé Brands has confirmed its intention to sell the sports eyewear brand, Cébé, to a partnership made up of D.MO and RACER.

Founded in 1892, Cébé specialises in sport performance sunglasses, ski goggles and helmets.

D.MO, which specialises in project management and the development and industrialisation of products, has joined forces with RACER, a manufacturer of gloves and protective equipment, in order to purchase Cébé.

The acquisition is supported by RACER’s historical finance partners, Upperside Capital Partners and 123 IM.

Peter Smith, CEO of Bollé brands and president of Bollé Safety, called it a “good transaction” for the companies. He said: “We are very proud of managing Cébé’s transformation over recent years and ensuring that it has come out of COVID-19 with a broad innovation pipeline and solid opportunities for growth.”

Smith added that the company was “equally proud” to be passing the company on “in such good health.”

“The decision to sell Cébé is part of our strategy to focus Bollé Group on core brands for further global growth,” Smith explained, noting that the Bollé, Serengeti, and Spy+ brands are all growing at double-digit rates.

The executive team from D.MO included former employees of Cébé: Sébastien Delsaux and Maxime Bos.

Now the new Cébé general manager, Delsaux said: “Since I first began working on Cébé in 2010, I have been its biggest fan. Its long heritage and history of excellence makes Cébé one of the pioneers of our industry, and I am very proud to be guiding the brand on the next phase of its journey.”

Delsaux described it as a “great pleasure to be able to write the next chapters of Cébé with D.MO and RACER,” with intentions of enhancing its heritage and “giving it back certain independence.”

François Benaben, president of sport and luxury, Bollé Brands Group, said the company was “proud of what we have achieved” in contributing to the history and development of the Cébé brand, adding that “D.MO and RACER will give it all the attention and support it deserves, to allow it to take a new step in its development and write a new page in its vibrant history.”