Ohlins buys itself back from Yamaha

[cannondale27]

Not sure if thats a good or bad thing.

Ohlins Buys Self Back From Yamaha
by dean adams
Friday, December 21, 2007
This just in from Ohlins:

????????????hlins Racing AB comes back home to Sweden This morning the Company founder Kenth ????????????hlin has reclaimed a 95% share of the world famous suspension manufacturer ????????????hlins Racing AB after a 25 year long, prosperous cooperation with the Yamaha Group. The company has grown to an annual turnover of Euro 52 million with 235 employees with distributors in more than 50 countries on all continents. ????????????hlins Racing AB is also represented with subsidiary offices in Germany and USA.

It all started back in 1975 when Kenth ????????????hlin, 26 years old, founded the company that became one of the most prestigious suspension brands in the world - ????????????hlins Racing AB. With a core business focus on high performance racing and technological excellence the young Swede soon got a high reputation in the racing community and the company prospered.

During the years that followed ????????????hlins Racing AB entered new business areas such as ATV, snowmobiles, automotive and the vast street racing motorcycle sector. The urge to find new, brilliant solutions to the challenges within the suspension industry, resulted in new patents that needed substantial investments.

In 1987 Yamaha Motor Europe N.V. became the majority owner of ????????????hlins Racing AB though the suspension manufacturer continued to be an independent, dynamic company. The support from Yamaha was necessary to realize all the ideas that Kenth had in mind.

One of the most well known products that were born thanks to the new cooperation was the CES valve. The CES valve was patented in 1984 and now, more than 20 years later the automotive industry has fully understood the power of the Continuously Controlled Suspension System. Today Volvo, Ford, Audi and Mercedes use the system in their cars and in the end of 2008 the total number of delivered CES valves exceeds 1 000 000 units.

Kenth ????????????hlin has never left the day-to-day management despite the fact that he travels the globe to represent the brand as the president of the company. His motivation and endless energy has inspired the staff throughout the years and the focus has been clear.

After several months of negotiations Yamaha Group and Kenth ????????????hlin have found a strong ground for further cooperation. The bond between Yamaha and ????????????hlins Racing AB is as strong as ever but now with a change of the majority stake. Kenth ????????????hlin owns from today, the 21 December 2007, 95% of the shares in the company, bringing the company back home to Swedish soil once again.

????????????hlins Racing AB is looking forward to the coming years with great expectations. New technological innovations are about to be realized the coming years and it is with great pride and satisfaction that the products from ????????????hlins Racing AB continues to be a Swedish quality product, made in Sweden owned by the founder of the company.

ENDS