Paris Hilton buys stake in Keanu Reeves' motorcycle marque
The socialite has sponsored motorcycle racers in the past – no less than Maverick Vinales! – and now she is moving into ownership alongside her Hollywood buddyShe helped current MotoGP man of the moment Maverick Vinales to get his big break in 125 GP racing in 2012, and now 36-year-old socialite Paris Hilton is taking on a new two-wheel endeavour – a half-stake in the Californian-based Arch Motorcycle company owned by Hollywood star Keanu Reeves.
According to Bikesales sources, discussions between Hilton and Reeves about the unlikely tie-up began very early in April 2016, but have accelerated in the past few months to the extent that the deal can be made public today.
As we understand it, one the main sticking points has been whether the name of the company should be changed to reflect the new ownership structure. Hilton, certainly not the shy type, has been pushing for the company to be rebranded as 'Parch' to at least reflect some part of her name, but Reeves finally convinced the actor, businesswoman, media personality and great granddaughter of Conrad Hilton – the founder of the eponymous hotel chain – that too much cachet is invested in the Arch brand name for it to be tweaked. At this stage.
As Arch is a private company, financial details have not been disclosed about the buy in, but we're hearing Hilton will hand over about $US6 million for her stake in Arch, whose signature offering (actually, the only one at this stage…) is the 2032cc 45-degree V-twin KRGT-1 complete with Ohlins suspension, six-piston monobloc brakes and billet tubular steel frame. Each KRGT-1 is a "custom fit" for each owner, and offers "white glove delivery" worldwide.
Arch was founded in 2011 by Reeves, who was Down Under last October and made an appearance at the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix. When asked about his plans to grow the Arch Motorcycle brand, he just smiled and said "that something big was about to happen".
Whether he was referring to Hilton or some new models in the pipeline, we'll have to wait and see.
Arch Motorcycle manufactures over 200 parts at its California factory, and it also sources propriety parts from suppliers all over the world.
The deal between Hilton and Reeves is currently being signed off, exactly one year after discussions first began.
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