What happened to Titleist’s parent company?


By: December 8, 2010


In May 2010 I wrote that Titleist's parent company Acushnet is selling Cobra Golf to Puma AG. The Acushnet saga is still not over. In those days I said OK, fine Cobra Golf is underperforming and they cannot finance the losses that Cobra Golf generates.

Today they came out with the following announcement that I received by e-mail as a loyal Team Titleist member:

"Fortune Brands (the parent company of Acushnet Company) announced that its board of directors has approved in principle a plan to separate the company's three businesses in order to maximize long-term value for shareholders.

As part of this plan, the Acushnet Company (which includes both the Titleist and FootJoy brands) could be sold or spun off into an independent, publicly-traded company."

What went wrong in the golf industry and at this prestigeous golf equipment company? Oversupply? Overestimating the potential growth? Whatever it is  we can expect the fall of Acushnet. The possible new companies will have dire problems to save their market position and bargaining power against retailers and golf courses.