LOUISVILLE — Pearl Izumi USA Inc. late last month sold off its Louisville headquarters to fellow bicycle-industry player Specialized Bicycle Components Inc., less than a year after it was acquired by a private equity firm.

The 55,000-square-foot headquarters building in the Colorado Technology Center at 101 S. Taylor Ave. traded for $14.94 million, according to Boulder County property records. 

Pearl Izumi, which last year announced its intent to offload its headquarters and cut staff after its acquisition by Fountain Valley, California-based United Sports Brands, built the distinctive-looking headquarters in 2013.

“There were synergies as a result of the acquisition, and we’re reinvesting funds into working dollars like product and building the brand,” Pearl Izumi spokeswoman Candi Whitsel said in a September 2021 statement. 

The company’s Boulder County employees were given the opportunity to work remotely or transfer to Pearl Izumi’s California operations, she said. 

The purchase of the headquarters by Specialized boosts the company’s existing Boulder County footprint.

In 2017, the Morgan Hill, California firm leased 14,400-square-feet of industrial space in Boulder where it has built out its Specialized Innovation Center.

A Specialized representative told BizWest at the time that the Innovation Center serves as a performance-testing and research and development hub for the company. 

Specialized, according to a Denver Business Journal report, plans to expand its Innovation Center into the newly acquired Louisville space.