Dunlop Slazenger has reportedly been sold to Sports World International LTD, the owner of the Sport Soccer and Lilywhites retail chains with over 120 doors in the U.K. and 20 more in Ireland and Belgium.
The deal is the latest by millionaire Mike Ashley, who last April acquired a controlling interest in Antigua for $10.25 million through his Ashley NA company. He also owns the rights to the Donnay brand.
Ashley, 39, reportedly acquired the Dunlop Slazenger brand from the Royal Bank of Scotland in a deal that is estimated to be worth at least £40 million ($73 mm). There was no indication if the deal included any assumption of debt that is reportedly in the £50 million ($92 mm) neighborhood. TheDeal.com said in a report that a source familiar with the situation had indicated that Ashley had been able to “reach agreement on its outstanding debts with the creditor banks”.
Ashley, Dunlop and RBS were not commenting on the reports of the deal.
Dunlop Slazenger, once part of BTR Industries, which is now known as Invensys, sold the company to management in 1996 in a £370m deal, backed by private equity group Cinven, billed on their Web site as “one of the most prominent and successful investors in the European buyout market”.
The deal was anything but successful and Cinven reportedly “struggled with outdated management systems, missing orders and overlapping sales teams, competing to sell Slazenger golf balls and the upmarket Maxfli range to the same customers”, according to a report out of the U.K.
Cinven lost the company to its lenders in 2001. The banks, led by RBS, reportedly had to take large write-downs as well, but recovered £20m ($29 mm) in 2002 through the sale of Maxfli to TaylorMade-adidas Golf. Current Dunlop management has reportedly been able to turn things around a bit, posting profits in the last two years.
