L.A.B. Sold

Oddsocks said:
I think it has a different target market as their complete custom fit. Various shafts, lies, weights, grips etc. this comes at a premium.

I picked one up recent and was told a fitting is £50 and it’s not deducted from the £600 bill if I purchase.
Click to expand...
The service comes at a premium but with PE taking a loan of a reported $200M to buy the company they have to service that debt plus make a profit. The LAB business is now $200M in debit (PE will move all that debt to the company) so it's pretty obvious that they will cut corners at every opportunity. The "premium service" price won't change, if anything it will likely go up but you can bet all other costs to the company will come down. Be it materials, manufacturing, salaries etc.

As I said, the company I work for has just gone through this. PE comes in, buys the company for billions, puts all the debt against the company which now has to service the debt plus turn a profit the PE guys think is adequate. Everything has been cut to the bone, we couldn't even get £89 per developer for a yearly licence to some software the team uses. I'm now using a version that is 2 years out of date. They were even trying to get rid of our Microsoft Developer licences and trying to get us to use free versions and all our code is Microsoft .NET. All our databases have been migrated to PostgreSQL as it's open source. This is a billion dollar company that is doing this. Half my team has now been replaced with guys from India, some teams have disappeared completely and people just have to try and pick up all this extra work.

This is not good for LAB employees or the consumer but the owner has made off like a bandit.
 
Orikoru said:
Was it just me who opened this thinking Burnsey just wanted to let us know he'd sold one of the 11 LAB putters he owns? 😂
Click to expand...

Only 4!

I like them and you can't try these things to your spec, so you have to buy and try. They hold their money well and with a loooooong wait for one, sales are easy to come by.

DF3 wins by a mile for me, second is Oz.1 and the Mezz/Mezz max come in last.

Some like them, some don't, but they'll be around a very long time and winning on tour too, so i take the haters with a pinch of salt.
 
Burnsey said:
Only 4!

I like them and you can't try these things to your spec, so you have to buy and try. They hold their money well and with a loooooong wait for one, sales are easy to come by.

DF3 wins by a mile for me, second is Oz.1 and the Mezz/Mezz max come in …
Click to expand...
Have you heard of getting a putter fitting?
 
KenL said:
Have you heard of getting a putter fitting?
Click to expand...

Me?

I get fit for tees Ken :ROFLMAO:

My first L.A.B. was fitted and the subsequent ones matched up in terms of swing weight, so are effectively fitted.

Head weight, lie angle, shaft and grip preference all part of the process, alongside insert/no insert.

No use buying a L.A.B. off the shelf unless you know your specs. May as well putt with a bean can.
 
Burnsey said:
Only 4!

I like them and you can't try these things to your spec, so you have to buy and try. They hold their money well and with a loooooong wait for one, sales are easy to come by.

DF3 wins by a mile for me, second is Oz.1 and the Mezz/Mezz max come in last.

Some like them, some don't, but they'll be around a very long time and winning on tour too, so i take the haters with a pinch of salt.
Click to expand...

The oz.1i is the one that’s really catching my eye, I’ve tried the mezz which was nice and the 0z1 I tried at the weekend was lovely.

The DF3 ….. it not pretty!
 
Oddsocks said:
The oz.1i is the one that’s really catching my eye, I’ve tried the mezz which was nice and the 0z1 I tried at the weekend was lovely.

The DF3 ….. it not pretty!
Click to expand...

It is the best looking putter ever made 😊

The 2.1 is hanging!

I prefer no insert, but many prefer it. Main complaint is people suffer on long putts, but for me, makes no different.
 
Springveldt said:
Private Equity.

Can all but guarantee the quality of the LAB putters will be going downhill now as they will cut everything to the bone while chasing profits.

If they are anything like the PE that bought the company I work for they will soon be paying off most employees while hiring their replacements in India.
Click to expand...

The key thing is the buyer is L Cattterton. This is a fund backed by LVMH and the Arnault family who own LVMH. Bernard Arnault is one of the richest men in the world, his son is really into golf: his dad made him CEO of Tag Hauer and he pushed Tag into golf gear. The guy has a full size 9 hole golf course in his back garden.

PE isn't a one size fits all approach. Yes it comes with high leverage and a focus on cash. But they also do luxury. Maybe one of the new shareholders uses a LAB putter and liked it so much they decided to buy the company!
 
sunshine said:
The key thing is the buyer is L Cattterton. This is a fund backed by LVMH and the Arnault family who own LVMH. Bernard Arnault is one of the richest men in the world, his son is really into golf: his dad made him CEO of Tag Hauer and he pushed Tag into golf gear. The guy has a full size 9 hole golf course in his back garden.

PE isn't a one size fits all approach. Yes it comes with high leverage and a focus on cash. But they also do luxury. Maybe one of the new shareholders uses a LAB putter and liked it so much they decided to buy the company!
Click to expand...
So they are going to try and turn LAB into some sort of luxury golf item? If not, are they ever going to recoup their outlay? LAB reportedly sold 130K putters last year, in the grand scheme of things that isn't going to help you get your $200M back plus profit anytime soon.

It will be interesting to see what they do.
 
If you don't like them, whoever owns them. I don't need to worry about standards dropping or ongoing customer care. I'm simply chuffed for the seller.
 
Springveldt said:
So they are going to try and turn LAB into some sort of luxury golf item? If not, are they ever going to recoup their outlay? LAB reportedly sold 130K putters last year, in the grand scheme of things that isn't going to help you get your $200M back plus profit anytime soon.

It will be interesting to see what they do.
Click to expand...
First thing they need to do is to change the website - who thought showing black putters on a black background was a good idea?
 
Burnsey said:
If you don't like them, whoever owns them. I don't need to worry about standards dropping or ongoing customer care. I'm simply chuffed for the seller.
Click to expand...
I'm indifferent to them, couldn't care who owns them. If my putting didn't improve I was going to test one out.

Mate I played with yesterday evening has one and he putted very, very well last night. Most people I know that have one all say they putt better with it, so there must be something to them.
 
Springveldt said:
So they are going to try and turn LAB into some sort of luxury golf item? If not, are they ever going to recoup their outlay? LAB reportedly sold 130K putters last year, in the grand scheme of things that isn't going to help you get your $200M back plus profit anytime soon.

It will be interesting to see what they do.
Click to expand...

That's not how PE leveraged buyout works. The business needs to make enough money to pay the interest, not repay the $200m debt. They get that back (and more) when they sell the business.
 
Springveldt said:
I'm indifferent to them, couldn't care who owns them. If my putting didn't improve I was going to test one out.

Mate I played with yesterday evening has one and he putted very, very well last night. Most people I know that have one all say they putt better with it, so there must be something to them.
Click to expand...
TBF no ones paying £600 for a putter and saying they're putting a a bit worse 😂😂
 
sunshine said:
That's not how PE leveraged buyout works. The business needs to make enough money to pay the interest, not repay the $200m debt. They get that back (and more) when they sell the business.
Click to expand...
Yep, fully aware. Business would be worth less though if they try to sell on and it's saddled with $200M of debit. Of course the first thing it being able to pay the interest on the debit while still syphoning off your profit.

It's no wonder companies that have been bought out by PE have a higher chance of going bust than companies that haven't.
 
Hopefully nothing changes 🤞 not that I'm changing my mezz any time soon. Had enough excuses till I finally found a putter that works for me.

Oz1 nice
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

harpo_72
Square to square putters
2 3
Replies
52
Views
4K
harpo_72
harpo_72
seochris
  • Locked
Zero Torque Putters? Is it hype or a thing?
13 14 15
Replies
288
Views
19K
Billysboots
Billysboots
S
Putting Meltdown
2
Replies
31
Views
4K
Bratty
Bratty
T
Ladies #3 hybrid - recommendations?
Replies
2
Views
409
chellie
C
G
My golfing journey transition into new club
Replies
4
Views
1K
golfoutlaw
G
Top