At the time, Herbert Hainer, CEO of adidas Group, TaylorMade’s parent company, said the move, “reflects our commitment to continued growth in the golf category.” The idea was that the acquisition brought together two highly complementary sets of brands, combining Adams’ focus on game-improvement as well as senior and women golfers with TaylorMade-adidas Golf’s focus on the younger and the low-to-mid handicap golfer. In March, 2012 TaylorMade announced it had reached an agreement to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Adams Golf for $10.80 per share in cash, or roughly $70 million.
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Since then Cobra has grown as a lifestyle brand in golf and on tour, with players such as Rickie Fowler, Lexi Thompson and, recently, Bryson DeChambeau. With the acquisition, Puma, meanwhile, became a major player armed with an equipment company that had a large distribution base to go with its footwear line, as well as a tour staff with international appeal (Camilo Villegas and Ian Poulter were among Cobra players at the time). Although Cobra enjoyed some success in the club category, Titleist-branded clubs began to present offerings appealing to a wider range of players, putting them in competition with Cobra rather than complementing them. After Acushnet (parent of Titleist, FootJoy and Cobra), signed an agreement to sell Cobra to Puma AG in 2010, two questions being asked were “Why would Acushnet sell?” and “Why did Puma buy?” When Acushnet-parent American Brands (now Fortune Brands) purchased Cobra in December 1995 for $700 million, Cobra was to become the flagship club brand.