Sep. 1--MANATEE -- A southern Manatee County design firm is partnering with a Taiwanese company to develop a new line of folding electric bicycles.

The deal between Robrady Inc., 1040 Commerce Blvd. N., and DK City Corp. closed last week after negotiations began in February, according to a news release issued Saturday.

Terms were not disclosed.

The partnership expects to unveil its first concept bike at the 2009 Eurobike show in Friedrichshafen, Germany in September, with plans to unveil the entire line by the end of this year.

The bikes are expected to be sold worldwide.

DK City sought out Robrady after seeing the local company's work on the electric Vectrix VX-1 Maxi Scooter and Super Bike, and for Segway Inc.

"With Robrady's fantastic design ability and our production capability as well as our established sales network, success is just around the corner," said Hans Huang, DK City's president, in a statement.

Robert Brady, Robrady's namesake, chief executive and design director, said the two companies are "very complimentary."

DK City, based in Taichung, is a manufacturer of bicycles, motorized scooters, golf carts, aluminum tables and treadmills, stationary bikes and other exercise equipment.

It has 1,500 employees and $400 million in annual sales, primarily through exports to more than 50 countries.

Robrady, incorporated in 1996, is a product design and development studio that has done work for AT&T, Dell, General Electric, Mercedes-Benz and several other corporations.

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