Callaway Golf paid $18M to acquire the remaining 48% of its joint venture with TSI Groove & SportsCALLAWAY
Callaway Golf has "taken full ownership of a joint venture in Japan that sells Callaway brand shirts, shoes and headgear -- furthering the Carlsbad company’s strategy of beefing up its apparel business," according to Mike Freeman of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. Callaway paid $18M to acquire the remaining 48% of its joint venture with TSI Groove & Sports. The deal "includes 33 retail doors in Japan made up of stand-alone stores, outlet locations and store-in-store space." Callaway President & CEO Chip Brewer has been "slowly morphing the company toward apparel as a path for growth," beginning in '16 with Callaway's joint venture with TSI. Callaway has since acquired backpack and golf bag maker Ogio, golf shirt brand TravisMathew and outdoor clothing brand Jack Wolfskin. Brewer plans to "grow these brands partly by expanding distribution globally." Ogio, TravisMathew and Jack Wolfskin currently are "sold regionally but not worldwide." Taking full ownership of the Japan joint venture is a "step toward expanding these brands into new regions" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 6/5).
