WATERLOO, Wis. (BRAIN) — Trek Bicycle said Friday that it has reached an agreement to acquire the Philadelphia-area bike shop chain Bike Line. The company announced the new partnership at a Bike Line staff meeting Friday morning. Trek is purchasing 12 of the 16 locations Bike Line currently operates throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Bike Line has sold Trek bikes for more than 30 years. Trek said it became interested in acquiring the chain after learning that owner John Graves was looking to pursue opportunities outside of the cycling industry.

"Trek has been a longtime partner and has played a big role in the success of Bike Line," Graves said. "They've been invested in our success and I wanted to find a partner for the next step in the shops' future who understands what it takes to continue what we've started and shares our values and passion for cycling."

Trek's VP of retail, Joe Vadeboncoeur, said, "Bike Line has built an incredible business over the years through a commitment to great products and great service. They have been a great partner and a committed retailer, and when we learned that ownership was looking for an exit solution, we were open to the idea of ownership.

"We are very much looking forward to enhancing the cycling experience in the communities they have served so well," he added.

In February, Trek announced it was buying Revolution Cycles, a four-store chain in the Washington, D.C., area.

Following the Bike Line acquisition, Trek will own about 33 stores in the U.S., company spokesman Eric Bjorling told BRAIN on Friday. For many years, the company has operated two stores in Madison, Wisconsin, near its headquarters in Waterloo. It also opened a company-owned store in Berkeley, California, this spring.

Bjorling said the company's strategy is to acquire or open stores in markets where the brand is under-represented, if it is unable to develop a relatioship with an existing retailer. The company also is open to opportunities to buy existing stores where the owner is looking for an exit strategy, as was the case with Revolution Cycles and Bike Line.

He said the Bike Line stores will eventually be renamed as Trek stores. The company expects no interuptions in service or changes to store hours during the transition.