Las Colinas Country Club in Irving, Texas, falls under the Invited umbrella. Courtesy Las Colinas Country Club
When Apollo Global Management acquired ClubCorp in 2017, paying $2.2 billion, half of that total being debt, one investment firm described the heavily leveraged, 60-year “world leader in private clubs” this way:
As ClubCorp has grown, golf has shrunk. Golf participation, golf rounds played, and sales of golf equipment have all trended down over the past decade, while the age of the average golfer has trended up. Though these demographic pressures strain the entire industry, ClubCorp suffers further from the nature of its competition: not-for-profit, member-owned clubs that strive not to maximize the bottom line but simply to provide a good experience. … Our model values ClubCorp equity at just $2.75 per share, 80% lower than the current price. … To those who are long shares: Fore!
Fast forward to 2023.
ClubCorp, with its 2...