Shares in the maker of "the world’s most expensive golf clubs" made a "below-par debut -- in the financial sense of the word -- in Hong Kong," with Honma Golf falling as much as 17% on its first day of trading, according to Wells & Hughes of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Honma, which describes itself as part of "golf’s aristocracy," charges up to 7M yen ($68,000) for a set of its "top-of-the-range gold-plated clubs." U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump "is reported to be a fan." The $173M listing is "the world’s biggest for a golf club manufacturer, according to Dealogic," and priced toward the higher end of its range at HK$10 ($1.29) a share. On Thursday, however, those shares dropped "as low as" HK$8.34 ($1.08) on their debut before rallying to close to 2% higher at HK$10.20 ($1.31). The 50-year-old Japan-based company is being listed by Liu Jianguo, a Chinese businessman and golfing enthusiast, and "underlines the hopes for the game’s expansion in Asia" even as it becomes a byword for "fat cat" business elsewhere. The company "is pinning its hopes on expansion in China, which is the world’s fifth-largest but fastest growing golfing market" and accounts for $469M of the global $12B industry. Honma "is not the only golf company with ambitions to go public." Acushnet, the golfing equipment company behind brands such as Titleist golf balls and FootJoy shoes, in June "flagged its intention" to list in the U.S. (FT, 10/6).
