Arques Industries, the private equity company that controlled Golf House, and a partner, Manfred Baumann, have finally found a buyer for the leading German golf specialty chain. Golf House has been acquired by a joint venture of JAB Anstoetz and Peter Wolf. The former is a leading global retailer of higher-end curtains and carpets. Wolf used to be a member of the executive board of Tchibo, the big Hamburg-based chain of coffee shops that is also known for sometimes selling sporting goods and other consumer products in a rather aggressive price range. Later on, Wolf was the head of the Karstadt department and specialty sports chains for a short while.
At last report, Golf House generated sales of €30 million in 2008, all of it in Germany, and the turnover remained reportedly unchanged last year. Arques’ sale of the market leader in golf was certainly no surprise since the investor’s desire to sell made it into the press at least once a year – pretty much like the monster of Loch Ness that makes it to the surface of the famous Scottish lake. The price for the deal between Arques and the new owners was not disclosed.
Munich-based Arques acquired 74.9 perccent of Golf House with its 14 brick-and-mortar stores along with its catalog and internet business in 2005 from what was then called KarstadtQuelle, the retail giant that later crumbled under the name of Arcandor. The balance was taken over by Baumann. At the same time, Arques bought Fritz Berger, a leading German retailer of camping equipment, in the course of KarstadtQuelle’s strategy of divestment. Fritz Berger was sold to another investor earlier this year.
