Titleist moves to Korea

Well, they're not actually moving operations from their Fairhaven, MA home. But their mind will certainly be heading to the Far East after the acquisition last week by Fila Korea and a private equity group, Mirae Asset. As Korea is one of few growth markets in the golf world, this is likely a smart move by the financial types who do these kind of deals. Although, I did baulk at the price when I read it - $1.225 billion. As I said before, a couple months back, with net earnings of $80 million anything north of $1 billion would be a great deal for the seller, Fortune Brands.

Wally Uihlein will remain at the helm and he had the quote of the week on the deal for those of his competitors in the US who remain inward looking -  "Companies that are US-centric will be roadkill on tomorrow's scorecard". There's no doubt he is correct - the US market continus to bump along the bottom and the days of the the $500 driver are gone, there was another net loss in participation in 2010, clubs, both private and public continue to struggle. Wally and Co have decided that if the growth isn't happening here in the US, they need to look farther afield and Korea, its 3 million golfers and prospects for 500 more golf courses is the place to be.

Titleist Update - And Then There Were Ten!

Last weekend was the deadline for all those interested in purchasing Acushnet. So, I hope you remembered to buy your iPad 2 and submit your bid for Titleist, Vokey and Scotty! With operating income a tad north of $80 million, the price on the company that turns over $1.24 billion (mostly from golf balls) is expected to bring a sale price of $700 million on the low end up to $1.2 billion on the high end. Following the first round of bidders, the field will be cut to 10...then the accountants will do there thing and a spreadsheet frenzy begins. The bidder could still come from private equity as well as the usual suspects, including Nike, TMaG, even Cleveland Golf. No doubt the lawn at Augusta will see some interested meetings as the final scramble for the April deadline approaches.