The often tumultuous story of Norton Motorcycles has entered a new chapter as Indian firm TVS Motor Company bought the stricken brand for £16m.
The Castle Donington based company went into administration in January, with administrators BDO tasked to find the best way to recoup monies owed to creditors. While TVS’s plans for the company are not yet fully clear, the deal means that the jobs of Norton’s 58 employees will be secured in the short term after they were issued with TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings Regulations) notification that their contracts would be transferring to the new company.
Commenting on the acquisition, Sudarshan Venu, Joint Managing Director of the TVS Motor Company said, “This is a momentous time for us at TVS Motor Company. Norton is an iconic British brand, celebrated across the world, and presents us with an immense opportunity to scale globally. This transaction is in line with our effort to cater to the aspirations of discerning motorcycle customers. We will extend our full support for Norton to regain its full glory in the international motorcycle landscape.
“Norton will continue to retain its distinctive identity with dedicated and specific business plans. TVS Motor will work closely with customers and employees in building the success and pre-eminence of the Norton Motorcycles brand and we look forward to growing together globally in the years to come.”
In a statement, TVS said that it was ‘excited about the existing and upcoming products’ suggesting that they will continue to offer the V4 RR superbike, Commando and Dominator models, as well as bringing the smaller Atlas models to market. This may come as good news to the many prospective Norton owners who fear they have lost deposits paid to the brand’s previous owners, however it is still not clear if TVS’s purchase of the brand comes with an obligation to fulfil those orders.
Norton Motorcycles, previously owned by controversial businessman Stuart Garner, was reported to owe at least £28m, including over £7m to secured creditor Metro Bank, when it went into administration.
In a statement, Joint Administrator Lee Causer of BDO added: “In challenging circumstances, we have been able to secure the future of the Norton brand. We are delighted that the sale to TVS Motor Company will protect jobs and provide a highly beneficial outcome to creditors.”
Who are TVS?
Based in Chennai, India, TVS Motor Company is one of India’s biggest motorcycle manufacturers, producing a staggering 3m motorbikes a year.
While its core business is making inexpensive small capacity scooters and motorcycles for the Asian market, as well as Piaggio Ape style three-wheelers, the company has gone upmarket in recent years thanks to a partnership with BMW Motorrad. The German giant collaborated with TVS on the G310 range of entry level models, which are produced in the Indian company’s factory in Hosur. The collaboration has also led to TVS’s flagship Apache RR310 model, which is a G310 powered sports bike to rival the likes of the KTM RC 390.
Quite how Norton fits into the TVS portfolio remains to be seen, but there’s no doubt that the iconic British brand is still hugely admired in India, where riders are increasingly looking to ride more exclusive bikes than the small commuters which have historically been the domain of the country’s legion of motorcyclists.
