ORLANDO — TaylorMade CEO David Abeles indicated that the multi-billion dollar golf-equipment manufacturer could have a new owner by the end of the year.
“My hope is that as we move into 2026 these strategic options will become even more clear,” Abeles told Front Office Sports at the PGA Show. “Perhaps, sometime throughout the course of this year, we’ll find our pathway into new ownership, subject to it working for not only our existing owners, but [also] the areas of our business.”
TaylorMade is one of the largest club- and ball-makers in golf, and has major deals with stars like Tiger Woods, Scottie Scheffler, and Rory McIlroy, among many others. In 2024, TaylorMade and Woods launched his Sun Day Red apparel line.
But the company’s two largest investors—Korean private equity firm Centroid and Korean fashion company F&F Co. Ltd.—have been in a complicated dispute over the logistics of a potential sale.
“About a year ago, we started thinking about being held in a private equity fund,” Abeles said. “What strategic options could help accelerate our growth into the future?”
In November, Money In Sport reported that golf-focused investment firm Old Tom Capital submitted a preliminary bid for TaylorMade worth around $3 billion. A representative for Old Tom Capital told FOS via email: “We don’t comment on market speculation or ongoing transactions.”
Abeles said TaylorMade is “exploring strategic options. We’re well into that plan right now. We believe we have found real options that will enable us to co-invest into the future of the company.”
Since Abeles took over as CEO in 2015, TaylorMade has been sold twice. In 2017, Adidas sold the brand to KPS Capital Partners for $425 million. In 2021, KPS sold TaylorMade to its current owners for $1.7 billion.
“We will never sell TaylorMade unless we find an ownership structure that benefits the growth orientation of our company,” Abeles said.
Callaway Lawsuit Update
Abeles also defended TaylorMade’s recent lawsuit against fellow golf-equipment manufacturer Callaway. TaylorMade has accused Callaway of making false claims about the makeup of TaylorMade’s golf balls, and claims the company used UV light tests to compare TaylorMade balls to “mud balls.”
“We will protect our intellectual property, and we will protect the investment we’ve made for the benefit of golfers, and helping golfers understand the truth of advanced technologies, and how golf balls are tested, so they have clarity to make a decision for them,” Abeles said. “And that’s really the nature of the lawsuit, which is, ultimately to TaylorMade, defending its position, and exposing the reality of golf ball testing, so that consumers can choose performance over conjecture or hearsay.”
TaylorMade has requested a trial by jury to prevent Callaway from continuing the alleged libel, and is seeking to recover a to-be-determined amount of financial damages.
“We love competition,” Abeles said. “This is a company that leans in competitively on everything we do. We also lean in professionally, and we handle our business, I think, with a moral compass that really matters to golfers around the world.”
