Investment bank seeks to bring Excelsior-Henderson back to market
Aaron, Bell International will serve as the exclusive agent for Excelsior-Henderson Motorcycles to seek a strategic relationship for the reintroduction of the brand to the marketplace.
“We look forward to working with Excelsior-Henderson during this exciting time in America, with the resurgence of manufacturing pride and interest in motorsports,” states Ralph Bellizzi, founder and president of Aaron, Bell International.
The convergence of several market factors has created a unique opportunity to reignite the heritage-rich Excelsior-Henderson brand. Recent motorsports industry reconfiguration, with Polaris Industries ending production of Victory Motorcycles to focus on its historic Indian Motorcycles, and Arctic Cat’s sale to Textron, combined with the strength of American motorcycle manufacturing and sales worldwide, make the market ripe for the reemergence of the venerable “E-H” marque.
Excelsior-Henderson’s deep, rich heritage is what elevates this opportunity well beyond the ordinary. As one of the original “Big 3” OEM motorcycle manufacturers along with Harley-Davidson and Indian during the early decades of motorcycling, Excelsior-Henderson’s heritage includes owners Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh, and a long list of ‘firsts,’ being the first motorcycle to circumnavigate the world and officially ‘clocked’ at over 100 mph, to engineering and design innovations until ceasing production by owner Ignatz Schwinn of Chicago during the Great Depression.
In the 1990s, that engineering and design legacy was painstakingly carried forward with the rebirth of the brand and the development of a proprietary, new Super X motorcycle by the Excelsior-Henderson Motorcycle Manufacturing Company. The company produced nearly 2000 motorcycles featuring dual overhead cams, four valves per cylinder, closed-loop fuel injection, integrated cassette transmissions, anti-dive suspensions, and more. Owners of the motorcycles today are just as fervent about the brand as the day they rode them off dealers’ lots.
Despite discontinuing production in late 1999, the business opportunity remains relatively turn-key due to its intellectual property and intensely-loyal, active customer base.
Bellizzi said it’s impossible to overstate the unique opportunity this presents. “An offering like this is extremely rare. An entrepreneur or investor can essentially pick up where the previous company left off, bypass the most difficult barriers to entry, and build upon the established success of this heritage-rich brand in a highly lucrative industry. It’s literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”