This article was published on Aug. 21, 2025, at 2:11 p.m. on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove site.
The sale of global golf company TaylorMade has begun. During the preliminary bidding, many global strategic investors (SIs) and financial investors (FIs) showed interest, with the actions of fashion company F&F holding the key due to its preferential purchase rights. If F&F exercises its rights, other bidders may end up as placeholders, only paying due diligence expenses.
According to investment banking (IB) industry sources on the 21st, global IBs JP Morgan and Jefferies, which are overseeing the sale of TaylorMade, conducted the preliminary bidding by this date. As the main acquisition candidates are foreign corporations, the bidding was conducted based on U.S. time. It is reported that various FIs and SIs from different countries, including Blackstone and Bain Capital, participated in the bidding. However, it is known that no domestic FIs participated.
The sale managers plan to grant due diligence qualifications to the preliminary bidding candidates and receive final bids in 1 to 2 months. Among the final bidders, they will select a preferred negotiation partner and enter into individual negotiations. The sale price of TaylorMade is expected to be confirmed after adjustments through these negotiations.
Analysis suggests that whether F&F will exercise its preferential purchase rights will affect the sale price of TaylorMade. If the sale price is significantly higher than expected by F&F, there is a greater incentive to realize profits through the sale rather than exercising its preferential purchase rights.
F&F secured its preferential purchase rights by investing 553.7 billion won when private equity fund (PEF) operator Centroid Investment Partners (hereinafter referred to as Centroid PE) acquired TaylorMade for 2.1 trillion won in 2021. This puts F&F in a contradictory situation where it is a major bidder while also sharing interests with the selling side.
If another bidder proposes to acquire TaylorMade, F&F has the right to acquire management rights under the same conditions within 14 days. Last month on the 21st, they signed a management contract with global IB Goldman Sachs for the exercise of preferential purchase rights. However, as funding commitments must be secured within the deadline, the increasing sale price makes exercising the preferential purchase rights more burdensome.
There are discussions about F&F bringing in other investors to form a consortium in order to reduce the funding burden. However, Centroid PE claims that "the party exercising the preferential purchase rights is limited to F&F, and consent from Centroid PE is required if a consortium is formed." F&F stated, "We cannot mention any details related to the agreement due to confidentiality agreements."
The sellers are said to want more than 4 trillion won for TaylorMade. This price is based on the valuation considering the share price of Titleist (Acushnet Holdings) listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Last year, TaylorMade's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) was approximately $222 million (about 310 billion won), and applying a multiple of 15 results in about 4.5 trillion won. As of last year, Acushnet Holdings' EV/EBITDA multiple was 14.5.