This article was published on September 9, 2025, at 9:15 a.m. on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove site.
As the sale of the global golf corporation TaylorMade is in progress, the sellers are narrowing down to 4 to 5 qualified candidates (shortlist) among the bidders who participated in the preliminary bidding and are conducting due diligence. However, Bain Capital did not make the shortlist after submitting a price that fell short of expectations.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 9th, JP Morgan and Jefferies, the intermediaries for the sale of TaylorMade, selected the shortlist from the candidates that entered the preliminary bidding at the end of last month and notified each firm of the results earlier this month. They are reportedly forming their own consortiums to conduct due diligence. The shortlist includes financial investors (FI) and strategic investors (SI).
Bain Capital, which has been a strong candidate in the market, is reported to not have made the shortlist. Bain Capital is said to have submitted a price below 4 trillion won.
Last year, TaylorMade's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) were approximately $222 million (about 310 billion won), and the sellers hope to apply a multiple of 15 to 16 to achieve a corporate value of around 5 trillion won.
F&F, a fashion corporation that participated as a strategic investor (SI) during the acquisition of TaylorMade, is also preparing to exercise its preemptive purchase rights. F&F has already appointed Goldman Sachs as the intermediary for the exercise of these rights.
Some have raised the possibility that if another candidate offers a sale price exceeding 4 trillion won, F&F may sell its equity as well, but an industry source familiar with F&F's internal situation dismissed this, stating, 'That is not true.'