Who Will Buy Taylor Made?

The strategic review results are in and Adidas is selling the club company, its Adams golf division as well as the Ashworth brand.

Mike Stachura at GolfDigest.com with a rundown of the events as they've unfolded over the last year, and this from CEO Herbert Hainer. Get out our corporatespeak translators, I did my best here:

“TaylorMade is a very viable business.

So much so we want someone else to enjoy the profits! Go on...

However, we decided that now is the time to focus even more on our core strength in the athletic footwear and apparel market,” said Herbert Hainer. “With its leadership position in the industry and the turnaround plan gaining traction, which is clearly reflected in the top- and bottom-line improvements recorded in Q1 as well as recent market share gains, I am convinced that TaylorMade offers attractive growth opportunities in the future.

I smell a big "however" coming.

At the same time, the planned divestiture will allow us to reduce complexity and focus our efforts on those areas of our business that offer the highest return and where we can have the biggest impact in reaching our consumers and winning their loyalty for the adidas and Reebok brands.”

Aaron Ricadela's Bloomberg piece is accompanied by an interview with Hainer who says the Taylor Made driver is "#1 on the golf course" and that he's "doing what’s right for the brand."

This line by Ricadela won't help the efforts to get more money from a prospective Chinese buyer, if they care:

Adidas got into golf when it bought French ski and skate company Salomon in 1997, but younger consumers are staying away from the game, and it isn’t popular in emerging markets like China and India. Sales plummeted 13 percent last year as the industry has been beset by discounting.

‘‘The golf market is not growing at the moment but it’s also not falling further,” Hainer said during a call with reporters.

I was thinking of a poll on who the possible buyers might be, but it would seem more likely that it'll be a Chinese company like Wanda Group or private equity firm with a name like Majestic or Majestic Elm or Thoroughbred Capital, instead of something sexier, like Under Armour. Thoughts?