Royal Enfield, the British motorcycle maker owned by Chennai-based company Eicher Motors, has decided to acquire UK-based Harris Performance Products Ltd for an undisclosed amount, as per a stock market disclosure. This would be the first acquisition by Royal Enfield.
As per the agreement, Royal Enfield will acquire the assets, employees, trade names, know-how and intellectual property of Harris, which is known for its design and manufacturing of high-performance motorcycle chassis and components.
The company is working on new-generation products and platforms, Royal Enfield's CEO Siddhartha Lal said, adding that bringing the Harris Performance team to work with the company would boost Enfield’s engineering and product design.
“Their proven expertise, deep insight and understanding of motorcycling and Royal Enfield will be invaluable for us in our journey towards achieving leadership in the global mid-sized motorcycling segment,” he said.
The existing team at Harris Performance will become part of Royal Enfield’s upcoming UK tech centre.
Harris Performance was founded by brothers Steve and Lester Harris and Stephen Bayford over 40 years ago.
The company is the only manufacturer which has been commissioned by Yamaha and Suzuki to design, develop and manufacture race bikes for Grand Prix and World Superbike racing series.
On the other side, Eicher Motors, which is the flagship company of Eicher Group, owns the iconic Royal Enfield motorcycle business. This is the oldest motorcycle company in production which made its first motorcycle in 1901.
Its product line-up includes the Bullet, Classic and Thunderbird models in both 350 and 500cc displacements. The motorcyle models of Royal Enfield include Royal Enfield Bullet 350, Royal Enfield Bullet Electra, Royal Enfield Bullet 500, Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 5S, Royal Enfield Bullet Machismo, Royal Enfield Thunderbird and Royal Enfield Classic.
It recently launched Continental GT 535cc cafe racer. Harris Performance was responsible for the chassis development of the brand's iconic Continental GT cafe racer model.
Royal Enfield operates through 12 company-operated stores and 395 dealers across India. The company also exports to 50 countries, including the US, Japan, the UK and many European and Latin American, Middle East and South Asian nations.
