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Sturmey Archer itself cannot now be sold as a going concern, and only the bits including the name are up for grabs.
As the whole company isnt being purchased its clear that whoever buys Sturmeys patents and machines will already be in the hub making business.
Sturmey made 500 000 hubs last year, about 15 percent of the global total, with SRAM and Shimano having the lions share of the rest.
Shimano claimed on this website that they were not interested in any part of Sturmey Archer but a Sturmey representative said both they and SRAM have expressed interest in Sturmeys patents.
However, Sturmeys intellectual property and some of the machinery is more likely to go to a Far Eastern company that first came on the scene before Lenark did. A Californian representative of this company was present at Sturmeys first creditors meeting (he couldnt be missed he was wearing a black bomber jacket emblazoned with his brands red logo!).
However, Sturmeys spoke and nipple business is currently floundering. It would have made an ideal fit for Raleigh and overtures were made but Derby execs prevented any further sniffing around, despite Gary Matthews having earlier told trade magazine BikeEurope that he may be interested in making an offer on some parts of the Sturmey business, which BikeEurope took to mean the spokes and nipples side.
We took that quote not with a pinch of salt but a whole bag full, said a Sturmey representative.
