Hillerich & Bradsby Co., the parent of Louisville Slugger, agreed to sell the batmaker to Finnish sporting-goods company Amer Sports Oyj’s Wilson brand, the two companies said in a joint news release. The sale is pending shareholder approval at Louisville, Kentucky-based Hillerich & Bradsby.
The $70 million all-cash transaction is expected to close in the second quarter, Amer Sports said in a separate release.
With the sale, Wilson would own the official glove of Major League Baseball while adding the official bat — the Louisville Slugger.
Closely held Hillerich & Bradsby will become Wilson’s exclusive manufacturing partner for wood bats, continuing to produce them at its downtown Louisville factory.
“The Hillerich family, and those closest to the brand, firmly believes that a new business model is necessary to realize the enormous potential of this brand in the future,” John A. Hillerich IV, the company’s chief executive officer, said in a statement. “We recognized from our first conversation with Wilson that they would be a great partner and steward of the brand our family created and so many have nurtured for 131 years.”
Hillerich was a woodworking shop when John A. Hillerich began making bats there in 1884 — with the brand registered a decade later. Today, 60 percent of MLB players use Louisville Slugger, according to the company’s website. It has sold more than 100 million bats.