Universal Cycles

Last updated

Universal Cycles, founded in Basildon, Essex, England, in 1977, is a supplier of bicycles and accessories. The company introduced the Silver Fox brand to the UK, and in 2001 acquired the mountain bike manufacturer Muddy Fox. [1]

Basildon town in Essex, England

Basildon is the largest town in the borough of Basildon with a population of 107,123 in the county of Essex, England.

Essex County of England

Essex is a county in the south-east of England, north-east of London. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and London to the south-west. The county town is Chelmsford, the only city in the county. For government statistical purposes Essex is placed in the East of England region.

Since April 2009 Universal has operated as a majority-owned subsidiary of Sports Direct. [2]

Sports Direct International plc is a British retailing group. Established in 1982 by Mike Ashley, the company is the United Kingdom's largest sports-goods retailer and operates roughly 670 stores worldwide. The company owns a large number of sporting brands and trades predominantly under the SportsDirect.com brand. Other retailers owned by the company include House of Fraser, Flannels, USC and Lillywhites. The company operates under low margins.

Related Research Articles

The Walt Disney Company American mass media corporation

The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Walt Disney or simply Disney, is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. It is the world's largest media conglomerate in terms of revenue, ahead of NBCUniversal and WarnerMedia, which are owned by telecommunications giants Comcast and AT&T respectively.

20th Century Fox American film studio

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation is an American film studio that is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, a division of The Walt Disney Company. The studio is located on its namesake studio lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles.

Chess Records American record company, founded in 1950 in Chicago

Chess Records was an American record company, founded in 1950 in Chicago and specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. Over time it expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz and comedy recordings, released on the Chess label and on its subsidiary labels Checker, Argo/Cadet and Cadet Concept. The entire Chess catalogue is currently owned by Universal Music Group and managed by Geffen Records.

Comcast American mass media company

Comcast Corporation is an American telecommunications conglomerate headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is the second-largest broadcasting and cable television company in the world by revenue and the largest pay-TV company, the largest cable TV company and largest home Internet service provider in the United States, and the nation's third-largest home telephone service provider. Comcast services U.S. residential and commercial customers in 40 states and in the District of Columbia. As the owner of the international media company NBCUniversal since 2011, Comcast is a producer of feature films and television programs intended for theatrical exhibition and over-the-air and cable television broadcast, respectively.

Major film studio Film production and distribution company with high output


A major film studio is a production and distribution company that releases a substantial number of films annually and consistently commands a significant share of box office revenue in a given market. In the American and international markets, the major film studios, often simply known as the majors, are commonly regarded as the five diversified media conglomerates whose various film production and distribution subsidiaries collectively command approximately 80–85% of U.S. box office revenue. The term may also be applied more specifically to the primary motion picture business subsidiary of each respective conglomerate.

NBCUniversal American media and entertainment company

NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American worldwide mass media conglomerate owned by Comcast and headquartered at Rockefeller Plaza's Comcast Building in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is one of two successor companies to MCA Inc., the other being Vivendi through its subsidiary Universal Music Group.

Marvel Studios, LLC is an American motion picture studio based at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California and is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, itself a wholly owned division of The Walt Disney Company, with film producer Kevin Feige serving as president. Previously, the studio was a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment until Disney reorganized the companies in August 2015.

Film Roman American animation studio

Film Roman is an American animation independently owned company. It was originally owned by Starz Inc., which is now a division of Lionsgate and later by Waterman Entertainment, the production company of producer Steve Waterman. Founded by veteran animator and director Phil Roman in 1984, it is best known for producing source animation for series such as The Simpsons (1992–2016), King of the Hill and Family Guy for 20th Century Fox Animation, as well as Garfield and Friends and various Garfield animated television specials.

Imagine Entertainment American film and television production company

Imagine Entertainment is an American film and television production company founded in 1986 by director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer.

Hulu American provider of on-demand Internet streaming media

Hulu is an American entertainment company that provides "over-the-top media services". It is primarily oriented towards instant streaming of television series, carrying current and past episodes of many series from its owners' respective television networks and other content partners. Hulu is owned by Hulu LLC, a joint venture with The Walt Disney Company, Comcast, and AT&T. Through the acquisition of 21st Century Fox, Disney acquired Fox's partial ownership, giving it a majority stake when the deal closed on March 20, 2019.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is an American film distributor owned by The Walt Disney Company. Established in 1953 as Buena Vista Film Distribution Company, the company handles theatrical distribution, marketing and promotion for films produced and released by the Walt Disney Studios, including Walt Disney Pictures, Disneynature, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures, and Blue Sky Studios. The division took on its current name in April 2007, which before that had been Buena Vista Pictures Distribution since 1987.

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment LLC is the home video distribution arm of the 20th Century Fox film studio.

20th Century Fox Animation company

Twentieth Century Fox Animation is the animation production arm of 20th Century Fox, based in Century City, Los Angeles. It is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, a division of The Walt Disney Company, tasked with producing feature-length animated films.

Regency Enterprises Los Angeles-based entertainment company

Regency Enterprises is an American entertainment company formed by Arnon Milchan. It was founded in 1991 as the successor to Regency International Pictures formerly known as Embassy International Pictures N.V..

Impact Zone sound stage in Universal Studios Florida in Orlando, Florida

The Impact Zone, also known as the Impact Wrestling Zone, is the professional wrestling nickname for a sound stage in Universal Studios Florida in Orlando, Florida. Its nickname was derived from Impact Wrestling, a weekly television series produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling which broadcast from this venue. Between 2004 and March 2013, TNA taped their broadcasts from Soundstage 21 before terminating their lease and began to tour nationally. TNA returned to Universal Studios on November 21, 2013 in Soundstage 19, which is smaller and holds fewer people than their original soundstage. Since then, the company has been taping most of its programming at the Universal Studios, but there is no permanent venue for the tapings. The company switches between Soundstages 19, 20 and 21.

Vivendi Games was an American video game publisher and holding company based in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1996 as CUC Software, the publishing subsidiary of CUC International, after the latter acquired video game companies Davidson & Associates and Sierra On-Line. Between 1997 and 2001, the company switched parents and names multiple times before ending up organized under Vivendi Universal. In July 2008, Vivendi Games merged with Activision to create Activision Blizzard.

Muddyfox

Muddyfox is a bicycle manufacturer from Basildon, Essex, England, specialising in mountain bikes and other flatbar bicycles. The company produced BMX bikes in the 1980s before a slump in the market forced them to switch to mountain bike production. The company has been a brand of Universal Cycles since 2001, itself since 2009 a majority-owned subsidiary of Sports Direct, and produces Silver Fox bicycles for bigbox retailers such as Argos.

21st Century Fox Former American multinational mass media corporation

Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., doing business as 21st Century Fox (21CF), was an American multinational mass media corporation that was based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was one of the two companies formed from the 2013 spin-off of the publishing assets of News Corporation, as founded by Rupert Murdoch in 1980.

Acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney Acquisition of 21st Century Fox by The Walt Disney Company

The acquisition of 21st Century Fox by The Walt Disney Company took place on March 20, 2019. Among other key assets, the acquisition included the 20th Century Fox film and television studios, Fox Television Group, international networks, a 73% stake in National Geographic Partners, Indian television broadcaster Star India, a 30% stake in Hulu, and a lease on the 20th Century Fox studio lot. Immediately preceding the acquisition, 21st Century Fox spun off the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Television Stations, Fox News Channel, the Fox Business Network, FS1, FS2, Fox Deportes and the Big Ten Network into the newly-formed Fox Corporation.

Springfield (Universal Parks & Resorts)

Springfield is a chain of themed areas at Universal Parks & Resorts in Florida and Hollywood, based on the town of the same name from the long-hit American television animated sitcom, The Simpsons.

References

  1. "The Muddy Fox Sale: Part Two", bikebiz, 29 March 2001, retrieved 21 November 2017
  2. "Company Overview of Universal Cycles Limited", Bloomberg, 20 November 2017, retrieved 21 November 2017