SOLD!!! To Adams Golf for A Cool $1.5 Million!
Well the live auction for the YES! Putter company ended today and Adams Golf looks to be the proud new owner. Picking up an already established brand for $1.5 million might sound like a lot of dough although in the end this is a pretty good deal. From what we have been told only a handful of companies bid on the putter brand at the live auction…and Adams was the only golf company to post an offer.
YES! – A Good Fit For Adams Golf
Previously we had heard from the CEO of YES! Golf that Cleveland/Srixon was interested in buying the putter company before it went into Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. Although it seems as though that deal fell through and as far as I know Cleveland/Srixon did not place a bid during the auction. The purchase for Adams Golf seems to be a better fit as well. Cleveland/Srixon already has two other putter brands…Never Compromise & Cleveland while Adams had yet to establish a stronghold in that market. Last year they made an attempt with the Adams A7 Select putters at a lower price point. And just this week we got a glimpse at some of their work with a few limited edition damascus steel putters as well. So they have toyed with the idea…although by now owning the YES! brand it will instantly establish them with a complimentary putter brand similar to something along the lines of Callaway & Odyssey.
So What’s Next For the Adams/YES! Brand?
Since we posted the news on Twitter about the purchase we have received quite a few emails from readers wondering what is next for the YES! Putter brand. We obviously don’t know the answers to these questions for sure but we will speculate on what our opinions are on the future for Adams/YES! putters.
1. Will they still use the C-Groove technology in future models? – Other then the YES! name the most valuable asset in this auction was the patented C-Groove technology used on YES! Putters. So my feeling is that they will absolutely continue to use the C-Groove technology on future models.
2. What will happen to all the current YES! Putter models? – hard to say really…a couple ways to go here. They could unload the previous YES! models to wholesale sites and start fresh with a new palette of Adams/YES! inspired models to reinvigorate the brand. Or they might decide to keep it business as usual and continue selling the current models through the available distribution channels. We will just have to wait and see.
3. What future plans does Adams have for YES! Putters? – moving forward I see Adams condensing down to a few of the more popular models in the line and adding a couple new models to the mix as well. One of the issues I feel YES! Golf had was the over abundance of models to choose from. It created consumer confusion and quite a bit of overhead as well. And in a down economy I feel this amount of inventory caused many of their issues. Especially with many of their vendors going out of business. So I don’t expect an awful lot of changes…though a couple new models launching in the 2nd half of 2011 would not surprise me.
4. Will they keep the YES! name or will it change to Adams putters? – Like previously stated the I feel the brand name and trademarks for the YES! name was the most valuable asset in the purchase so I would be surprised if the name changed.
5. Do you see Adams employing some of their R&D technology on their putter line? – From the way Adams pumps out new technology I would be surprised if they didn’t but this will depend on whether or not they want to leave the brand as is and continue with its previous success. Or…if they want to try and take it to the next level and implement some of the things they have been toying with on prototype putter models in the past couple years. Should be an interesting next 12 months for the YES! Putter brand that is for sure.
cheymike
13 years ago
I am so glad to hear that someone like Adams has bought YES! putters. My wife and I both game one of their putters and love them. I imagine Adams will be able to push the brand a bit more aggressively than YES! did and hope they are as successful with them as they are with the Idea line. If you haven’t tried one, you owe it to yourself to give one a shot. I’ve never putted with anything that feels better.