Taylor Made Golf has purchased part of MS-based golf
ball manufacturer Hansberger Precision Golf (HPG), which
makes RAM Tour golf balls, according to Bruce Bigelow of the
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. Terms of the deal were not
disclosed, but Bigelow reported that Taylor Made plans to
install new equipment for making its own balls in HPG's
plant by the end of the month, and added that "[m]ost" HPG
workers will become Taylor Made employees. Taylor Made CEO
George Montgomery said that the company "expects its golf
ball business to generate a minimum of" $100M in annual
sales "over time," but he "declined to say" when the company
"expects to meet its revenue goal or to provide details
about the design, the materials or even the brand name of
the new ball" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 7/15).
BARBARIANS ON THE TEE: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's
Mitchell Pierce examines LBO firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts'
(KKR) foray into the golf equipment business, via its '96
buyout of Evenflo & Spalding (E&S), under the header "KKR's
Big Drive In Golf Hasn't Been A Good One." Spalding is
"staggering" under "more than" $725M of bank and bond debt,
and KKR "is widely expected to take action soon," with
rumors circulating that the firm "will also inject more
money into Spalding." Spalding's recent moves, which have
included a "venture into premium golf products" and the
acquisition of Hogan Golf, have come as "international
markets worsened" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7/16).
