Cotswold Outdoor will be part of the Outdoor and Cycle Concepts company

Four major retailers have formed a single company following a string of acquisitions earlier this year.

High Street and online outdoors retailers Cotswold Outdoor and Snow & Rock will combine with Cycle Surgery and Runners Need under the title of Outdoor and Cycle Concepts.

Parent company AS Adventure Group was snapped up by French private equity firm PAI Partners from previous owners Lion Capital in February and went on to buy the Snow & Rock Group.

A company statement said: “The AS Adventure Group will, alongside its existing Cotswold Outdoor brand, work with Snow & Rock, Runners Need and Cycle Surgery to develop exciting customer propositions across multi-activity categories, to become the largest outdoor group in the UK with a combined turnover of £210m.

“The AS Adventure Group will in turn cement its position as the leading outdoor retailer in Europe with a turnover of €550m.

Hans Falkenburg, chief executive of the Outdoor and Cycle Concepts Ltd group, said: “We’re delighted to announce the formation of Outdoor and Cycle Concepts Ltd.

“This is a great opportunity for us to grow our portfolio within the UK market, and to continue to develop our product offerings for customers.”

Cotswold Outdoor was formed in a single outbuilding more than 40 years ago and now has 72 shops throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Snow & Rock opened its first store on Kensington High Street in 1982, and now has 24 stores across the UK and Ireland.

Runners Need is one of the country’s leading running specialist retailers, established in 1982. It has more than 30 specialist stores as well as an online operation. Cycle Surgery is an award-winning retailer that was established in Islington in 1992 as a local repair shop and was acquired by Snow & Rock in 2007. It has grown to a chain of 30 specialist shops.