L.A.B. Golf sold to private equity firm

[dekez]

20 hours ago, QuigleyDU said:

I am pretty certain its true. I think it is very similar to the situation in which Sam bought the company. 

Can you elaborate?

[dekez]

7 hours ago, Red4282 said:

Saw somewhere else… that this is buyer:

https://www.lcatterton.com/

Oh no. Private Equity?

[TiScape]

8 hours ago, manVSgolf said:

If it’s true, I would be happy that it would be with Srixon.  My heart couldn’t take the Cameron-ification of my beloved LABs.

Legit kinda shocked Sam/LAB didn’t run this by you first! 😂 

[Ghostwedge]

10 hours ago, manVSgolf said:

If it’s true, I would be happy that it would be with Srixon.  My heart couldn’t take the Cameron-ification of my beloved LABs.

Agree...... I would  seriously consider ending my beloved Scotty Cameron affiliation with a LAB-ification,  the Odyssey intrusion was bad enough. 

 

 

[callawayjay]

On 7/26/2025 at 3:21 AM, Red4282 said:

Saw somewhere else… that this is buyer:

https://www.lcatterton.com/

The amount of corporate speak/jargon on their webpage makes me turn into a narcoleptic sloth 4 words in. 

Edited July 27 by callawayjay

[getair23]

On 7/25/2025 at 10:30 PM, MattM97 said:

 

We all remember the last time Cleveland/Srixon/Dunlop bought a putter company and what happened right? 

The bigger concern might be that 97% of the putters produced would be sent to Hideki.

[MattM97]

19 minutes ago, getair23 said:

The bigger concern might be that 97% of the putters produced would be sent to Hideki.

 

I don't think they'd have to worry about Hideki honestly. 

[txbadger]

On 7/26/2025 at 10:36 AM, dekez said:

Oh no. Private Equity?

exactly... this is bad... very bad.   Great news for all the LAB haters out there tho

Edited July 27 by txbadger

[C_rad]

9 hours ago, txbadger said:

exactly... this is bad... very bad.   Great news for all the LAB haters out there tho

May i ask why? I am not following.

[txbadger]

1 hour ago, C_rad said:

May i ask why? I am not following.

If you google "reasons why being acquired by private equity firm is bad for a company", you should get plenty of insight why.   In short PE firms don't really care about the product as much as they care about how much value they can extract from it in the short term. 

[typhoonoid]

Bill Presse confirmed on Facebook post. Hope they remain the same mostly. Maybe get a cash infusion to speed up production. 

Edited July 28 by typhoonoid

[Hawkeye77]

 

[King_Slender]

A list of companies that PE firms have improved for the customer:

 

 

[dcmidnight]

Good for them. From a pure business standpoint, if they were going to cash out, now was the time to do so. They are never going to be hotter than they are right now. A few years from now when the whole zero torque thing has settled down or passed completely and we are on to the next whatever equipment hot take we are on to, this move will look absolutely brilliant.

[King_Slender]

28 minutes ago, dcmidnight said:

Good for them. From a pure business standpoint, if they were going to cash out, now was the time to do so. They are never going to be hotter than they are right now. A few years from now when the whole zero torque thing has settled down or passed completely and we are on to the next whatever equipment hot take we are on to, this move will look absolutely brilliant.

 

Had to disagree and there isn't a single person who says they "hate this" (which we can) who wouldn't have cashed out for hundreds of millions.

[snagy2000]

[jda]

You usually don't have to sell to PE if you are not at least in some trouble financially - PE rarely pays market value, outbids anybody and don't generally acquire companies that can make it on their own.  Solid companies with good financials are not all that hard to sell to a variety of buyers.  This sucks.  Nobody deserves PE.

 

Don't believe any of the "good things to come" or "they believe in our product" or "I will be around to oversee things" type of stuff.  This is acquisition 101.  While a few brands can come out of PE OK, most go downhill.

[Lumberjack627]

Calling at 11am on the dot when the open to cancel my order of 2 more putters that I wanted. Really loved the product and wanted to collect with various color and shaft combos. But hey they just saved me 2k on this current order. 

[wfrogge1]

38 minutes ago, Lumberjack627 said:

Calling at 11am on the dot when the open to cancel my order of 2 more putters that I wanted. Really loved the product and wanted to collect with various color and shaft combos. But hey they just saved me 2k on this current order. 

This makes zero sense. As of today and for the short term not much change will happen with this company production wise.  Its not like the PE will be on site today changing the materials and processes used to create the putter you just ordered.  If anything now is the time to buy a LAB before they (might..) move to more mass production to increase sales. 

[RogerinNewZealand]

On 7/26/2025 at 8:28 AM, StoutKing said:

Berkshire Hathaway... 😉

Mr Buffet retires and gets Golfing,🤗 

[jda]

23 minutes ago, wfrogge1 said:

As of today and for the short term not much change will happen with this company production wise.

 

Nobody knows this.  I would not assume.  I hope that this is the case, but having been through this before, employees could be offered buyouts or shown the door, bank accounts frozen and orders suspended.  If PE is wanting to try and keep the brand going, then they will announce that they are fulfilling all current orders - if they don't announce, then this is usually bad.  PEs mostly gut companies so they don't care abut the reputation or customer base, so it is not all that bad to assume that this might happen if you have a few thousand on the line with them - you can always reorder when you figure out that everything is still going as it was.  I would be super cautious too.

 

It has ALWAYS been my experience that announcements are ready when the deal closes.  It is strange that there is not one - my apologies if I missed one.  If is Monday and a lot of deals get done on the Friday News Dump (late Friday), so maybe something is coming soon.

 

EDIT: if dude above gets a refund, then this is a good sign.  If refused, or any reason, then this is not good.  I hope that a report is posted, either way.

Edited July 28 by jda

[MickeyTankBank]

21 hours ago, txbadger said:

exactly... this is bad... very bad.   Great news for all the LAB haters out there tho

 

It really is. I won't say it's like Christmas though. Maybe like a lesser holiday, Labor Day or President's Day.

[StoutKing]

1 hour ago, Lumberjack627 said:

Calling at 11am on the dot when the open to cancel my order of 2 more putters that I wanted. Really loved the product and wanted to collect with various color and shaft combos. But hey they just saved me 2k on this current order. 

Now is the best time to buy IMO.  Before anything has the chance to go downhill

[Ambion]

Oh wow!  Interesting information.  PE buyouts usually associated with bad connotations all for the glory of profits...will see what happens long term.

[dcmidnight]

PE just doesnt bring anything to the table - other than an interest in extracting every last $$ they can. For every one positive story or positive comment, you'll read 100 from people in this thread (including me) who've been through this before. This isn't like if Callaway or TM bought LAB. They will want to make as much money as they can - so whether $500 putters become $800 putters or what, they arent doing this out of the goodness of their hearts or their love of the game.

 

The problem is...the OEMs that wanted to figured out/pump out their own ZT putters have done that already. Theres no business interest for them in picking up LAB.

[QuigleyDU]

There it is.. LOL Y'all believe me now??

[QuigleyDU]

1 minute ago, dcmidnight said:

PE just doesnt bring anything to the table - other than an interest in extracting every last $$ they can. For every one positive story or positive comment, you'll read 100 from people in this thread (including me) who've been through this before. This isn't like if Callaway or TM bought LAB. They will want to make as much money as they can - so whether $500 putters become $800 putters or what, they arent doing this out of the goodness of their hearts or their love of the game.

 

The problem is...the OEMs that wanted to figured out/pump out their own ZT putters have done that already. Theres no business interest for them in picking up LAB.

They bring money to the table. That is what LAB needs. They are doing well, but cant handle the growth. 

[rsballer10]

5 minutes ago, StoutKing said:

Now is the best time to buy IMO.  Before anything has the chance to go downhill

100%. If you have an order in, they have to fulfill your custom order exactly the way you ordered it.

[rsballer10]

2 minutes ago, dcmidnight said:

PE just doesnt bring anything to the table - other than an interest in extracting every last $$ they can. For every one positive story or positive comment, you'll read 100 from people in this thread (including me) who've been through this before. This isn't like if Callaway or TM bought LAB. They will want to make as much money as they can - so whether $500 putters become $800 putters or what, they arent doing this out of the goodness of their hearts or their love of the game.

 

The problem is...the OEMs that wanted to figured out/pump out their own ZT putters have done that already. Theres no business interest for them in picking up LAB.

Not only that, OEM's are smart to pump out ZT putters under their own name instead of purchasing LAB. If ZT falls out of favor, they're all good and can stop producing them. If ZT becomes the standard moving forward, they have the stronger brand recognition than LAB, better pricing, and better lead times.

 

This is actually smart for LAB to do. The competition is coming, and in golf the bigger OEM's tend to win in the long run.

[etodd]

It seems the post has been removed from LAB RATS on facebook... I understand the negativity, but if Bill Presse comes out and says "The new owners are fantastic.", can't we just trust him for a minute until they prove us wrong? I know it's an unpopular opinion, but with the uptick in copies being released from other companies, this was the right time to sell before their sales tank as they wouldn't hold the majority of the market share.