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

[CPT_LHR_ATL]

1 minute ago, BubbaWon said:

This isn’t true. VCs don’t love capex and opex heavy consumer businesses, and manufacturing putters in America is just that. 

 

This acquisition is certainly by a growth equity (a form of PE)….likely L Catterton. 

 

 

This is right. You go to growth PE when you need money to get to the next level. I would expect significant investment to expand LAB's production capabilities and reduce backlogs. Maybe Auto/AI fitting as part of the order process. Bigger marketing budget, definitely -- likely including more paid contracts on tour.

 

Again, LAB has now essentially become a very small part of the world's largest luxury goods conglomerate. This is a halo investment, not a race to the bottom.

[Minarets]

This thread is all over the place.  I get it. There is a lot of negative attention around private equity buyouts. And for good reason. But there’s also a lot of positive private equity buyouts that just don’t get the attention that they probably deserve. Who knows how this will play out?  Canceling orders already seems a little absurd, but it’s your money and feel free. Will they streamline the manufacturing process down the line? Of course, new ownership always has a different approach to doing things, but to think your product is gonna be an Etsy-like assembled putter  now that it was sold today seems a little shortsighted

[Pnwpingi210]

18 minutes ago, Minarets said:

This thread is all over the place.  I get it. There is a lot of negative attention around private equity buyouts. And for good reason. But there’s also a lot of positive private equity buyouts that just don’t get the attention that they probably deserve. Who knows how this will play out?  Canceling orders already seems a little absurd, but it’s your money and feel free. Will they streamline the manufacturing process down the line? Of course, new ownership always has a different approach to doing things, but to think your product is gonna be an Etsy-like assembled putter  now that it was sold today seems a little shortsighted

If the PE lets lab be lab and injects some investment into the places lab needs.. it will be good.

 

if the pe starts to think they have a strategy for labs long term growth and has a heavy hand with that, while also taking an eye for cost cutting/efficiencys in labs brand/ops that it doesn’t take long for the consumer to notice and the brand to die.

 

Ive spent time in an adjacent field and it could go either way.  I’d say 60/40 or 70/30 they mess it up and lab falls off the radar in 5-8 years.

[Minarets]

14 minutes ago, Pnwpingi210 said:

If the PE lets lab be lab and injects some investment into the places lab needs.. it will be good.

 

if the pe starts to think they have a strategy for labs long term growth and has a heavy hand with that, while also taking an eye for cost cutting/efficiencys in labs brand/ops that it doesn’t take long for the consumer to notice and the brand to die.

 

Ive spent time in an adjacent field and it could go either way.  I’d say 60/40 or 70/30 they mess it up and lab falls off the radar in 5-8 years.

that is exactly right. It could go either way. No one knows today.  So either be afraid to buy a putter today or be afraid to buy it in five years after changes are made.   

[Pnwpingi210]

1 minute ago, Minarets said:

that is exactly right. It could go either way. No one knows today.  So either be afraid to buy a putter today or be afraid to buy it in five years after changes are made.   

Yup.  That being said safe bet is to buy one now 🙂

[Eren]

Time to lock in a back up Oz juuuust in case 🙂 

[ChaosTheory]

Oh the humanity!

[rsballer10]

34 minutes ago, Pnwpingi210 said:

if the pe starts to think they have a strategy for labs long term growth and has a heavy hand with that, while also taking an eye for cost cutting/efficiencys in labs brand/ops that it doesn’t take long for the consumer to notice and the brand to die.

 

I don't think it has to be mutually exclusive. I think they could become more efficient and cut costs without affecting the brand in any way. The custom order shenanigans where each one is balanced to order sounds like a pile of 💩. My custom build was all LAB parts, with the exception that I play my putter at 35.5". I don't think it takes a brain surgeon to figure out the weight configuration needed for a 1/2" putter using a LAB press pistol grip. These are all known quantities. Rant over.

 

Quote

Ive spent time in an adjacent field and it could go either way.  I’d say 60/40 or 70/30 they mess it up and lab falls off the radar in 5-8 years.

I could see them falling off the radar even if ZT stays popular. I just think OEM's can provide the same product faster, cheaper, and more readily available. With the added benefit of being a name brand that gen pop is familiar with.

[IC3BURGH]

1 hour ago, Pnwpingi210 said:

Do you know if we will start to get a LAB branded Patagonia vest  with each purchase now?

 

Arc'teryx is now the vest of choice.

[SheriffBooth]

If L Catterton is indeed the purchaser this might not be the end of the world that some of you are worried about.  They're a little bit of a different animal from the corporate/tech private equity raiders you might be used to.  They're partnered with LVMH - so that's Louis Vuitton and Tag Heuer, among others - and their individual consumer investments are some other noteworthy brands like West Marine and Boll & Branch.  A lot of their portfolio appears to be well regarded, well run, luxury brands.  So hopefully this is just them dipping their toe in the golf world and the results will be good.

[bk3318]

4 hours ago, etodd said:

No clue on the specifics haha, but just as the "creator", the fact that he trusts in this sale is telling. Seems to be more positive than negative from his POV.

You actually think he will say anything bad? Do you believe everything you read and hear? Not a knock on you but an honest question.

[Arlin964]

Well now im a little bummed with the assumption that we probably won’t get a 20% Black Friday discount this year. That’s my once a year LAB order. 

[etodd]

24 minutes ago, bk3318 said:

You actually think he will say anything bad? Do you believe everything you read and hear? Not a knock on you but an honest question.

If I invented a product that I was very proud of and took pride in, and we "sold out" to a company that I didn't like, you would know how I felt very publicly. Maybe he can't say yet, maybe he can. But his initial post didn't seem to be negative in the slightest.

Edited July 28 by etodd

[Pnwpingi210]

1 hour ago, rsballer10 said:

 

I don't think it has to be mutually exclusive. I think they could become more efficient and cut costs without affecting the brand in any way. The custom order shenanigans where each one is balanced to order sounds like a pile of 💩. My custom build was all LAB parts, with the exception that I play my putter at 35.5". I don't think it takes a brain surgeon to figure out the weight configuration needed for a 1/2" putter using a LAB press pistol grip. These are all known quantities. Rant over.

 

I could see them falling off the radar even if ZT stays popular. I just think OEM's can provide the same product faster, cheaper, and more readily available. With the added benefit of being a name brand that gen pop is familiar with.

I think  doing what you suggesting (making lab more like taylormade) would be scenario number 2, and a bad idea.  
 

let lab be lab.  Sure you can find efficiencies, but not at an impact to what makes lab be lab.

I think the zt is great as a grab an go option.  Labs things is custom fitting.

 

[shackmangolf]

I am excited for LAB. L Catterton will bring the needed expertise they lack. I've been part of teams that have sold several companies to PE and know L Catterton very well. 

 

Personally, I think LAB was lucky to sell now. The golf boom will wind down. LAB will lose its luster. They will be copied through the yin yang. They probably got the best valuation they could possibly get. 

 

As a person who has purchased many putters from LAB as a fitter, I believe they needed the expertise that L Catterton can give. LAB's processes leave a lot to be desired. They are very slow to fulfill orders. Dealers have to pre pay. Their entry into mass retail pissed off a lot of the retailers that made them successful. It's hard to be a LAB customer - "give us $800 for a putter now and maybe you will get it in 10 weeks".

 

PE will help them. The lead times will go down. The customer service will go up. The brand will grow. Everything will be better. PE isn't bad - it's actually good for companies like this. 

 

My two cents.

[RacineBoxer]

On 7/25/2025 at 6:33 PM, getitdaily said:

Makes a lot of sense. The company's valuation is as high as it'll ever be but Sam is not a logistics and manufacturing guru. They need to decrease production cycle time and reduce time to delivery. Someone with capital to add production capacity will double the company's growth.

 

I agree. And it doesn't seem like the LAB concepts are really all that protected by patents, I mean, Odyssey, TaylorMade, PXG... everyone is just going to copy their ideas and retake that market share.

 

I would imagine this has happened a few times in the golf industry in the last 30 years. I mean... Adams tight lies is one that comes to mind. They had a huge hit there for a short period of time because their fairway woods performed in a way that was super helpful to a ton of people. Then everyone started offering shallow (or shallower) fairways and their products didn't really evolve. I somewhat struggle to see how LAB is going to evolve from what they already have. 

[Bexk]

7 hours ago, jda said:

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.

Do you always speak this confidently about topics you have zero clue about? 

[Rory4Pres]

I know that small crew at Lab was grinding it out for years, so I'm glad they got paid.  They deserve it.

[Gamble Gamble]

8 hours ago, jda said:

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. 

 

This is not entirely accurate.  What you are talking about is a specific form of PE, called a vulture fund.  Many companies use traditional PE to buy them at the current market so the founders can get paid.  Many of these deals are structured where the founders retain some portion of the business so they can cash out again when they scale and the PE firm sells it down the road.  (Typically 5-7 year cycles)  

 

7 hours ago, jda said:

 

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.

 

The sky is not falling... and if PE somehow does destroy LAB, someone else will create another niche-putter company and we can three putt for net-par with their $1,100 putter too.

 

Capitalism FTW.

 

 

 

Edited July 28 by Gamble Gamble

[bherbers]

Taylormade is owned by a PE firm and somehow plenty of people on this site are good with still purchasing TM clubs. I don't really think this is the end of the world and potentially could open the door to LAB entering into other categories outside of putters.

 

I would be willing to bet that the deal is structured such that Sam is staying around for the medium/long-term and likely has a significant amount of rollover equity going forward. This is almost certainly a play for the current owners to take some chips off the table and also get access to additional capital to continue to grow the company. 

Edited July 28 by bherbers

[rorykoepka]

3 minutes ago, bherbers said:

Taylormade is owned by a PE firm and somehow plenty of people on this site are good with still purchasing TM clubs. I don't really think this is the end of the world and potentially could open the door to LAB entering into other categories outside of putters.

 

I would be willing to bet that the deal is structured such that Sam is staying around for the medium/long-term and likely has a significant amount of rollover equity going forward. This is almost certainly a play for the current owners to take some chips off the table and also get access to additional capital to continue to grow the company. 

TaylorMade was a massive company when PE entered the picture. This is way different than entering a smallish company like LAB or Swag Golf. There’s not a single person that likes what happened to Swag after PE made a huge investment in them.

[Jetsguy1792]

Confirmed L catterton bought majority share for $200mm. Reported by WSJ

Edited July 28 by Jetsguy1792

[straightshot7]

I hope LAB continues to operate the same (with better production capacity) and keep the same standards of balancing, zero torque, etc.

It's a little sad to hear, if they don't.

I do not believe this was "their peak". Yes the putter won the U.S. Open and I'm sure they have been selling a ton of putters.

 

But are they still anywhere near Odyssey level of sales, for example? I doubt it. And I bet they could get there someday.

 

They are still only at like 20% market penetration at the very most. With more production capacity and bringing the price down slightly they could eventually go mass mass market and become a much bigger brand. This is only the tip of the ice berg.

 

Although personally of course i am fine with them staying small and just being a niche, high end brand also. 

[BiggErn]

On 7/25/2025 at 4:35 PM, QuigleyDU said:

Dont think they have much golf in their portfolio. 

It'll be less soon. 

[Doc420]

12 minutes ago, straightshot7 said:

I hope LAB continues to operate the same (with better production capacity) and keep the same standards of balancing, zero torque, etc.

It's a little sad to hear, if they don't.

I do not believe this was "their peak". Yes the putter won the U.S. Open and I'm sure they have been selling a ton of putters.

 

But are they still anywhere near Odyssey level of sales, for example? I doubt it. And I bet they could get there someday.

 

They are still only at like 20% market penetration at the very most. With more production capacity and bringing the price down slightly they could eventually go mass mass market and become a much bigger brand. This is only the tip of the ice berg.

 

Although personally of course i am fine with them staying small and just being a niche, high end brand also. 

They are number 3 in putters. 

[KGolfCT]

Hopefully they don't hire a former Odyssey employee and start making ugly striped putters with crappy inserts...

 

[manVSgolf]

I am leaning pessimistic that this will end up good for the LAB we know.  We have seen too many good things get screwed up by companies whose sole-focus are maximizing profits.  
 

Congrats to Sam and Bill who I’m sure just took care of their great-great grandchildren, in-addition to rocking the world of golf as we knew it - I totally, totally get it and I don’t fault you one bit by taking the path you did.  
 

I am going to hold onto the LABs that I have.  I truly believe there is no better putter out there.  I know the ones I have were made my a company I completely resonated with.  Will that remain true going forward?  We shall see.  I hope I am wrong and they continue to get better and more innovative.  But as a jaded 41 year old, I have heard this song and seen the dance one too many times, and I know that a neutered LAB Golf is a realistic possibility.

 

[straightshot7]

42 minutes ago, Doc420 said:

They are number 3 in putters. 

in sales or what metric?

 

it being a private company, where do you find the numbers?

 

the fact that a majority stake was worth $200 million does suggest their sales are quite high. 

[boggyman]

The same PE group also invested previously into golf too……

[Pnwpingi210]

7 minutes ago, straightshot7 said:

in sales or what metric?

 

it being a private company, where do you find the numbers?

 

the fact that a majority stake was worth $200 million does suggest their sales are quite high. 

Yeah…..200 million is …. A lot for a putter only company