New owners say they are committed to running ASI wholesale business

by Stephen Frothingham

PHILADELPHIA (BRAIN) — Part of the group that has agreed to purchase the assets of Advanced Sports Enterprises said Tuesday that they are committed to operating ASE’s wholesale business, Advanced Sports Inc., and will continue selling ASI’s brands including Fuji, Kestrel, SE, Breezer, Tuesday and component brand Oval Concepts.

“We are committed to ASI’s long-term success,” said joint venture representatives Ryan Davis and George Hsu, executives at Tiger Group and Advanced Holdings, respectively, in a statement. “With this purchase, we intend to build on and improve the existing infrastructure of ASI’s wholesale distribution business.”

Tiger Group and Advanced Holdings have formed BikeCo, which was one of the three investors that submitted the winning bid to acquire the assets of ASE on Friday. The other buyers were Amain.com Inc., the parent company of Amain Hobby and Amain Cycling, an e-commerce retailer, and K&B Investment Corp., a real estate investment company connected to the Miami-based distributor J&B Importers.

Amain and K&B have not announced their plans.

Davis and Hsu said the new owners plan to keep the ASI brands and retain the vast majority of the staff in the company’s Philadelphia headquarters. Longtime ASI executive Karen Bliss was quoted in the statement. “We have some exciting product launches under our existing brands in the very near future,” said Bliss, ASI’s chief marketing officer. “We look forward to providing a compelling selection of products and excellent customer service to our dealer network.”

A judge approved the group’s winning bid on Friday, and a sales closing was expected Tuesday.