In a deal which is claimed to make the company the largest business-to-business golf player in the United Kingdom, EighteenGlobal has announced it has acquired Foremost Golf Limited, the 15 year old buying group with 225 member golf professionals. EighteenGlobal, the international golf company dedicated to growing the game of golf by sharing retail and other profits with club professionals and courses, will fold Foremost’s revenue and operations into its own efforts of streamlining the supply channel and increasing profitability for on-course shops and green grass clubs.
Foremost is the largest collective buying group in the UK and has grown from a buying consortium to a retailing group, offering buying, retailing, marketing and administration services to its members. Foremost also brings to EighteenGlobal its “Greenside” magazine, with a circulation approaching 200,000 the largest circulation golf magazine in the UK today.
The deal rapidly expands EighteenGlobal’s reach amongst pros in the United Kingdom and gives the company a replicable distribution management business model for use in other countries where the company operates including Southern Africa, Australia and soon in the United States. EighteenGlobal’s centralised distribution strategy together with Foremost’s business-to-business capabilities will provide member pro shops with improved margins, lower stockholding and operations closer to “just-in-time” order management. The two companies have common missions as well – EighteenGlobal has focused on “giving back to golf to grow its future”, whilst Foremost has focused its company mission on growing the sport and being “good for golf”.
From its inception in 1999, EighteenGlobal sought to redesign the supply chain to provide greater profitability for the green-grass environment. “By acquiring Foremost and capitalising on the synergies our two companies share, we can accelerate our innovations around restructuring the golf supply chain and as a result, step up our growth.” said Steve Jarrett, senior vice president retail and a founder of EighteenGlobal. “Additionally, Foremost is a great fit for EighteenGlobal because we share the same mission, values and focus on returning prosperity to the on-course golfing world.”
For Foremost’s member pros, EighteenGlobal offers the opportunity to have their own “e-business” in addition to the benefits on the business-to-business side. With this capability, Foremost pros can sell a broad selection of products online to their members, including traditional categories sold in shops as well as travel, books and videos. Approximately 120 of Foremost’s 225 pros were already EighteenGlobal partners prior to the acquisition.
“Foremost’s mission has always been to strengthen the on-course pros’ retail proposition to their members,” said Paul Hedges, managing director of Foremost, who will now become managing director of EighteenGlobal’s UK operations. “Becoming part of EighteenGlobal brings us capabilities like centralised distribution that enable us to more rapidly achieve our vision and deliver more value to our pros.”