Dunlop Slazenger was a sports equipment manufacturing company formed by now-defunct BTR plc by consolidating the various sports brands acquired as part their take-over of Dunlop Holdings in 1985. [1]
The company is most recognised for its involvement in golf, tennis, squash, and badminton through the Dunlop Sport, Slazenger, Maxfli and Carlton Sports brands. [2]
In 1996, the company was sold in a management buyout backed by private equity firm Cinven. [3] This arrangement did not have a successful existence, and Dunlop Slazenger soon found itself being run by the banks, led by The Royal Bank of Scotland. [4] Under the banks' management, TaylorMade-adidas Golf took up their option to purchase the Maxfli golf brand in 2004, following a previous licensing arrangement, [5] and the rights to Slazenger Golf in North America were sold to the Slazenger Golf Products Company. [6]
The remainder of Dunlop Slazenger was eventually sold to Sports Direct for £40 million in 2004. Since then Dunlop, Slazenger and other brands have been licensed or sold to other companies, notably Dunlop Sport being sold to Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI), a company of Sumitomo Group, for US$ 137.5 million in 2016–17. [7]
BTR plc was a British multinational industrial conglomerate company. It was headquartered in London, England.
John Boyd Dunlop was a Scottish inventor and veterinary surgeon who spent most of his career in Ireland. Familiar with making rubber devices, he invented the first practical pneumatic tyres for his child's tricycle and developed them for use in cycle racing. He sold his rights to the pneumatic tyres to a company he formed with the president of the Irish Cyclists' Association, Harvey du Cros, for a small cash sum and a small shareholding in their pneumatic tyre business. Dunlop withdrew in 1896. The company that bore his name, Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company, was not incorporated until later and, despite its name, was Du Cros's creation.
Dunlop Tyres is a brand of tyres which is managed by different companies around the world. It was founded by pneumatic tyre pioneer John Boyd Dunlop in Belfast, Ireland, in 1888.
Slazenger is a British sports equipment brand owned by the Frasers Group. One of the world's oldest sport brands, the company was established as a sporting goods shop in 1881 by entrepreneurial brothers, Ralph and Albert Slazenger, on Cannon Street, London. Slazenger was acquired by Dunlop Rubber in 1959. Dunlop was acquired by BTR in 1985. Sports Direct acquired the business in 2004.
JJB Sports plc was a British sports retailer. On 24 September 2012, shares in JJB Sports were suspended, and the firm called in administrators. On 1 October 2012, it was announced that Sports Direct had purchased part of the business, including 20 stores, the brand, and its website for £28.3 million.
Cinven Limited is a global private equity firm founded in 1977, with offices in nine international locations in Guernsey, London, New York, Paris, Frankfurt, Milan, Luxembourg, Madrid, and Hong Kong that acquires Europe and United States–based corporations, and emerging market firms that fit with their core businesses, and necessitate a minimum equity investment of €100 million or more. As of 2023, it has €39 billion in assets under management.
Maxfli is a brand of sports equipment, most recognized for its golf balls, currently owned by Dick's Sporting Goods. Dick's purchased the brand from TaylorMade Golf on February 11, 2008; however, the Noodle trademark and all golf ball patents remained with TMaG.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. is a global tire and rubber company based in Japan. It is part of the Sumitomo Group. The company makes a wide range of rubber based products, including automobile tires, golf balls and tennis balls. Sumitomo tire brands include Dunlop, Falken and Ohtsu. Sumitomo also manufactures and sells the sport equipments under the Dunlop Sport brand.
TaylorMade Golf Company is an American sports equipment manufacturing company based in Carlsbad, California, United States. The company focuses on the golf equipment market, producing golf clubs, balls, and clothing. TaylorMade Golf is currently a subsidiary of Centroid Investment Partners after it was purchased from KPS Capital Partners in May 2021.
Carlton Sports is a British sports equipment brand, focused on badminton and table tennis. Originally established in 1946, Carlton is currently part of the Frasers Group.
Frasers Group plc is a British retail, sport and intellectual property group, named after its ownership of the department store chain House of Fraser.
The Dunlop KT26 was a running shoe made by Dunlop Sport (Australia), from 1978 to 2012. Originally designed by Jerry Stubberfield for the Osaga shoe company in the 1970s, "KT" was short for "Kinetic Technology" and "26" represents the number of miles in a marathon. The shoe featured a light weight upper, wedge shape and wide flared sole to spread impact and increase traction and a hard wearing rubber sole with a tread pattern of "cantilevered" large deep lugs and voids which provided 360° grip edges and was relatively self-cleaning making it useful in wet and muddy conditions. In 2003, Dunlop Footwear calculated it had sold more than 5 million pairs since release.
Dunlop Sport is a British sports equipment manufacturing company established in 1910 that focuses on racquets and water sports, more specifically tennis, swimming, squash, padel and badminton. Products by Dunlop Sport include racquets, strings, balls, shuttlecocks, and bags. Sportswear and clothing line includes t-shirts, shorts, skirts, jackets, pants, socks, caps, sneakers, and wristbands.
Cleveland Golf is a sporting goods company owned by SRI Sports Limited, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd.. The company creates golf equipment. Based in Huntington Beach, California, Cleveland Golf began as a company producing replicas of classic golf clubs. The company was founded as the Cleveland Classics by Roger Cleveland in 1979.
Dunlop Sport (Australia) was the local subsidiary of the international sports equipment company Dunlop Sport. Focused on the tennis and golf markets, Dunlop Australia products included tennis and squash racquets, tennis balls, squash balls, golf clubs and golf balls.
Dunlop Ltd. was a British multinational company involved in the manufacture of various natural rubber goods. Its business was founded in 1889 by Harvey du Cros and he involved John Boyd Dunlop who had re-invented and developed the first pneumatic tyre. It was one of the first multinationals, and under du Cros and, after him, under Eric Geddes, grew to be one of the largest British industrial companies. J. B. Dunlop had dropped any ties to it well before his name was used for any part of the business. The business and manufactory was founded in Upper Stephen Street, Dublin. A plaque marks the site, which is now part of the head office of the Irish multinational departments store brand, Dunnes Stores.
Dunlop is a brand of tyre originally produced by the Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company from the end of the 19th century, taking its name from John Boyd Dunlop. The brand is used for many other products made from rubber or with rubber components and some with a looser connection to rubber.
Srixon is a sports equipment brand owned by SRI Sports Limited, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd., also owner of Dunlop Sport. Srixon focuses on golf, with its balls holding the largest number of patents worldwide, and having previously supplied other leading manufacturers such as Dunlop Slazenger. They also produce a full range of golf clubs and accessories.
Kurt Geiger is a luxury British footwear and accessories brand. Kurt Geiger has around 70 stores, and multiple concessions within department stores, including Harrods and Selfridges. Kurt Geiger owns three brands: Kurt Geiger London, KG Kurt Geiger and Carvela, created by its in-house team.
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