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Garmin signs deal to acquire indoor training powerhouse Tacx

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In a huge announcement today, GPS-giant Garmin, has acquired Tacx, the privately-held Dutch maker of indoor training systems, software, and accessories. Headquartered in Wassenaar, Netherlands, all ~200 Tacx employees will become part of Garmin’s global team. We’ll follow the story as it develops, and are among the many who are excited about the possibilities. For now, check out the press release below.

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PRESS RELEASE: Schaffhausen, Switzerland/February 12, 2019/Business Wire — Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), today announced that one of its affiliates has signed a definitive agreement to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Tacx Onroerend en Roerend Goed B.V (“Tacx”), a privately-held Dutch company that designs and manufacturers indoor bike trainers, tools and accessories, as well as indoor training software and applications. The completion of this acquisition is subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions.

The market leader with more than five decades of experience, Tacx is best known for its innovative line of indoor smart trainers, including the highly-regarded NEO 2 and the revolutionary NEO Bike, that measures speed, power and cadence. Offering a highly realistic and accurate ride simulation, Tacx trainers allow cyclists to experience lifelike conditions, no matter the weather. For the most interactive and immersive indoor experience, the Tacx smart trainers connect wirelessly to popular training apps to help cyclists get more from their workouts, as well as the Tacx software/training app that offers training plans, data analysis, films of scenery all over the globe, live opponents and much more.

“Tacx brings an entirely new product category to Garmin’s fitness portfolio that expands our reach into the indoor training market,” said Cliff Pemble, Garmin president and CEO. “Together with Tacx, Garmin will offer a seamless, enjoyable and motivating indoor and outdoor experience for cyclists all year long.”

“We are excited to have the support of a technology leader like Garmin,” said Koos Tacx, CEO of Tacx. “With Garmin’s extensive R&D capabilities and global distribution network, we look forward to working together to further enhance our indoor training products and technologies, and bring them to cyclists around the world.”

A vertically-integrated company with in-house R&D and production, Tacx is headquartered in Wassenaar, Netherlands with a distribution center in Vogt, Germany. The company employs nearly 200 associates, who will become part of the global Garmin team. To further leverage the growing market for indoor bike trainers, Tacx is currently undergoing a capital investment project to expand its R&D and production capacity.

The completion of this acquisition, which is subject to customary conditions, is expected to occur in Q2 2019. Financial terms of the acquisition will not be released.

For decades, Garmin has pioneered new GPS navigation and wireless devices and applications that are designed for people who live an active lifestyle. Garmin serves five primary markets, including automotive, aviation, fitness, marine, and outdoor recreation. For more information, visit Garmin’s virtual pressroom at garmin.com/newsroom, contact the Media Relations department at 913-397-8200, or follow us at facebook.com/garmin, instagram.com/garmin, twitter.com/garmin, or youtube.com/garmin.

About Garmin

Garmin Ltd. is incorporated in Switzerland, and its principal subsidiaries are located in the United States, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. Garmin is a registered trademark of Garmin Ltd.

All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

Garmin.com

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messy
messy
5 years ago

So did things just get better or worse?

hleogr
5 years ago
Reply to  messy

Strange, will be interesting to see what Garmin intends to do with Tacx tools and accessories product lines. I guess they will discontinue those product lines that are not electronic equipments. Also interesting that home trainer market is such a big market. My home trainers are all covered by dust. It makes much more fun to ride a bike outside instead in front of a screen.

Andrew
Andrew
5 years ago
Reply to  hleogr

Thats probably true if you live somewhere where its relatively warm year ’round. Here in Canada, where its been below -20 degrees C for 2 weeks straight (damn polar Vortex!) riding outside is not very fun right now!

Dolan Halbrook
Dolan Halbrook
5 years ago
Reply to  Andrew

For sure… seems like half of Canada is on Zwift.

Dolan Halbrook
Dolan Halbrook
5 years ago
Reply to  messy

For the short term, they probably aren’t any different. Garmin seems smart enough to approach this slowly and not mess up a good thing. Longer term we can hope for lower Tacx prices in the US (Garmin has access to manufacturing facilities in Taiwan, for example) and perhaps better US support, plus maybe better software integration (though Garmin sucks ass at software historically). Plenty of analysis of it across the interwebs.

Zach Roeder
5 years ago
Reply to  Dolan Halbrook

It is really surprising that they have been so terrible at software. I can only guess that management has been slow to understand that they are a software & hardware company, not just a hardware company. However, from what I’ve heard from friends, some other big name fitness device companies have software issues as well.

I’ve never had a problem with ANT+ (hardware to hardware integration), but anytime I’ve wanted to sync workouts or have a device interact with my computer, it has been a giant headache.

However, I’ve had a Fenix 5s for about a month now and it has been flawless. I’m hoping that the Apple watch helps to push these companies to work on their software integration.

Crash Bandicoot
Crash Bandicoot
5 years ago
Reply to  messy

Worse. Garmin software issues and hardware issues (vector 3) are well storied.

Tim
Tim
5 years ago

Nooooooooo! If the software quality issues I’ve had with my Garmin head units is any indicator, I’m very glad I got my Tacx before this happened.

John
John
5 years ago
Reply to  Tim

LOL! Who do you think is going to work on patches for your Neo?

Dave
Dave
5 years ago

Love my Elite Drivo trainer. Works great and the videos that Elite shoots are pretty incredible. Did a lot of research before I bought a smart trainer and glad I bought an Elite. And yes I would much rather ride outside but there just is not always the time to do so.

Paul Zbiek
Paul Zbiek
5 years ago

Perhaps the acquisition can improve the poor performance of the Edge 1000 for indoor training. The speed sensor is essentially worthless, since it looses its signal when you get off the bike. Garmin Support was unable to solve the problem.

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