Is KKR’s bad bet on cycling the start of Europe’s private equity reckoning?
As one of the first pandemic era private equity purchases to go into a full restructuring, Accell may be the canary in the European coal mine for a crop of such deals struck at high valuations.
As lockdowns gripped Europe in late 2020, KKR was battling to plant its flag in one of the pandemic’s winning industries.
The private equity pioneer lost out that year in its bid for German road bike maker Canyon, a darling of Instagram. But bankers later pitched KKR’s dealmakers a consolation prize: Accell, a less modish Dutch manufacturer.
