Sports
The Sports Division brings together leading brands with unique heritage as well as growing young brands: between traditional and emerging sports, from elite-level competition to physical activity in schools, each company offers high-quality equipment and services tailored to every need.
Brands
Participation in the Olympic Games
of ABEO's Revenue
Expert Leaders in Their Market
The history of the Sports Division began in 2002 when ABEO acquired Gymnova, a French gymnastics equipment company that has since become one of the global leaders in its field. Over the years, the Division has expanded to include globally established brands and key local players, now offering a diverse range of equipment for various sports, from physical education to elite competitions.
Among the global leaders are Schelde Sports, a Dutch reference in team sports, particularly in basketball hoops; Spieth, a German expert in gymnastics equipment; and Janssen-Fritsen, a Dutch specialist in physical education installations. Key local leaders include ADEC Sport (Belgium), Bosan (Netherlands), and Erhard Sport (Germany), all focused on indoor and outdoor sports equipment; Sportsafe, a UK-based expert in sports equipment maintenance and repair; PCV Collectivités, a French specialist in outdoor recreational setups; and Cannice, a Chinese gymnastics equipment company. Emerging brands specializing in niche or extreme sports complement the Division, such as Brick, which offers parkour equipment, and BigAirBag, a Dutch company designing inflatable landing surfaces for leisure parks, gyms, and winter sports resorts.
Essential and Trusted Brands
Renowned for their expertise and product quality, many companies within the Division are partners of national and international sports federations - such as the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) - or of iconic athletes like Simone Biles with Spieth. The trust placed in ABEO’s brands is also evident in the sporting events they equip, including the most prestigious: the Olympic Games. Through its companies, ABEO has equipped 16 Olympic Games, most recently providing equipment for gymnastics, basketball, and climbing events at Paris 2024, with Gymnova, Schelde Sports, and EP Climbing.
Focus on ACSA
ACSA Le Balmay and ACSA Wattrelos are two French production sites within the Group, specializing in the manufacture of gymnastics equipment. ACSA Le Balmay is located near the town of Vieu-d'Izenave in the Ain region, while ACSA Wattrelos is situated just a few kilometers from Lille. For 30 years, ACSA Le Balmay has been the production hub for Gymnova products, whereas ACSA Wattrelos collaborates with several companies within the Group.
At ACSA Le Balmay, which spans 10,000m², nearly 50 employees work across upholstery, metalwork, sewing, and assembly workshops to produce gymnastics apparatus such as balance beams, pommel horses, vault tables, springboards, and floor exercise mats. The ACSA Wattrelos site, located in one of France’s textile industry heartlands, specializes in sewing. Its 40 employees design gymnastics mats for companies such as Spieth, Janssen-Fritsen, and Bosan, climbing mats for EP Climbing, and inflatable landing surfaces for BigAirBag. Both sites are ISO 14001 certified.
ACSA is synonymous with unique expertise, including age-old skills such as sewing and leatherworking, which sustain French excellence by producing high-quality products that ensure the safety of end-users - whether they are schoolchildren, amateur athletes, or elite competitors.
What does ACSA stand for? "Ateliers Couture Sellerie Assemblage" (Sewing, Upholstery, and Assembly Workshops), reflecting the site’s dedication to these crafts since its establishment in Le Balmay in the 1970s.