Simon McGuigan is setting up a company in the United Kingdom to take over in a few weeks’ time the European apparel license for Ping in Europe. The golf brand’s European license has been in the hands of Umbro for several years but Ping decided to switch after the U.K. company’s acquisition by Nike last year. The new company, to be called Ping Collection Europe, will take over nearly all of the staff involved with the golf apparel range at Umbro.
Simon McGuigan is the son of Peter McGuigan, former shareholder and chief executive of Umbro. He has been working on the Ping apparel license business for several years and his involvement deepened last year after Anthony Little, who headed up the Ping unit at Umbro, moved to another position at the football company. The arrangement should bring continuity to the business, in terms of design as well as international sales structure.
In another such case, it had been uncertain for several months what might happen with the apparel license for Callaway Golf, which was in the hands of Ashworth. The two parties fell out last year and it was all the more certain that the licensing agreement would not be renewed after Ashworth was acquired late last year by TaylorMade-Adidas Golf (TMAG), Callaway’s rival in golf equipment.
Callaway Golf announced last week that it had teamed up with Perry Ellis International to source and sell the Callaway golf and sportswear apparel range in the U.S. market, in Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. Perry Ellis will sell the range in better department stores, specialty outlets and corporate channels, while Callaway Golf will take care of pro shops, off-course golf specialists and sports stores through a newly created sales force focusing on apparel and footwear sales. Callaway will continue to sell apparel designed by Ashworth until the end of the year, and products sourced by Perry Ellis will hit the market next year.
It remains unclear if Perry Ellis will continue to work with Ping, and it could not be determined at the time of writing what the arrangement would be for Callaway clothing in Europe.
