(GOLF BUZZ) – Puma Buys Cobra Golf!!

MYGOLFSPY 2009 RUMOR NOW CONFIRMED! (PUMA BUYS COBRA GOLF)

MGS was the first to give you this possible big golf news back in August of 2009 when we were hearing lots of rumors from credible sources and we also ran across some interesting Puma driver drawings that made us think they were thinking more and more about jumping into the equipment side of the industry.  And today that news was confirmed!  Puma is set to buy Cobra Golf!  Amazing news for Puma.  We just hope they handle this great brand and product the right way.  There is amazing potential for this brand.  They year in and year out fly under the radar with some of the best golf products on the market.

The press release with all the info is below about the sale and we also wanted to include some of the earlier drawing and a link to the previous article we highlighted way back in August of last year.  READ AUGUST 2009 ARTICLE

DEERFIELD, Ill., Mar 10, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Fortune Brands, Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!fo (FO 46.45, -0.03, -0.07%) today announced a definitive agreement for the sale of its Cobra golf brand to PUMA AG. The sale includes the Cobra brand, as well as related inventory, intellectual property and endorsement contracts.

“Divesting the Cobra brand will enable us to drive shareholder value by concentrating our golf investments behind Titleist and FootJoy, which represent our highest return growth opportunities in golf,” said Bruce Carbonari, chairman and chief executive officer of Fortune Brands. “With Titleist and FootJoy, we will continue to have the leading worldwide position in the attractive golf consumer products category, and we are very well positioned to drive growth as the market stabilizes in 2010 and recovers in the years ahead.”

Titleist is the #1 ball in golf and FootJoy is the #1 shoe and glove in golf. As the company’s flagship golf club brand, Titleist generates the majority of the company’s sales in the golf club category. In 2009, Titleist golf club sales grew in a global golf club market that declined at a mid-teens rate.

“With the sale of Cobra, we have the opportunity to devote all of our resources to the global growth of our industry-leading Titleist and FootJoy brands,” said Wally Uihlein, CEO of Acushnet Company, the golf business of Fortune Brands. “As we continue innovating, competing for market share in the U.S. and expanding internationally, we believe Titleist and FootJoy will be the industry’s most powerful platforms for profitable long-term growth. At the same time, Cobra is a strong brand with a heritage of innovation, and we wish the quality associates guiding the brand future success.”

Acushnet will provide transition services to PUMA on behalf of Cobra — including production, distribution, field sales and customer service — for an agreed-upon period of time beyond closing of the sale. All Acushnet employees dedicated to the Cobra brand are expected to become employees of PUMA upon completion of the transaction.

Fortune Brands expects the sale to be approximately two cents dilutive to 2010 earnings per share before a one-time gain on sale of approximately five cents per share. Financial terms of the pending transaction were not immediately disclosed.

The sale is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. The companies anticipate the transaction will close early in the second quarter.