Concert Golf Chairman Peter Nanula informed members of the 16 clubs that would have been sold to ClubCorp that “the fit just wasn’t right.” Nanula added that his firm would now refocus on “adding more fine clubs to our boutique portfolio.”
Clubs owned by Newport Beach, Calif.-based Concert Golf Partners have been informed by Concert’s Chairman, Peter Nanula, that discussions with Dallas-based ClubCorp to acquire 16 of the properties in the Concert Golf portfolio have ended, The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle reported.
C&RB reported on the potential acquisition in April (http://clubandresortbusiness.com/2018/04/talks-clubcorp-acquire-concert-golf-properties-reported/).
The Eagle reported that James Hippe, General Manager of Crestview Country Club in Wichita, one of the 16 Concert Golf clubs that would be part of the deal, said that Crestview members had received an e-mail from Nanula to let them know the talks for the acquisition had ended.
“I am writing to tell you that after 60+ days of due diligence, meetings, and hard work, we terminated our discussions with ClubCorp yesterday,” Nanula wrote in the e-mail, The Eagle reported.
“There are always price, terms and ‘softer’ issues involved in these potential transactions,” Nanula’s e-mail continued. “But the fit just wasn’t right.”
Nanula also apologized in the e-mail “for all the uncertainty created by this potential transaction” and said he has “a fiduciary duty to our investors to evaluate offers like this,” The Eagle reported.
“We love Crestview and are excited that we can get back to our focus on improving your member experience and investing in further capital improvements at the Club without this distraction,” Nanula’s e-mail concluded, The Eagle reported. “And I look forward to adding more fine clubs to our boutique portfolio.”
Nanula also returned a call from The Eagle and repeated that the deal wasn’t a good fit and that Concert Golf is happy to keep Crestview CC well into the future.
Hippe told The Eagle that Concert Golf has made $2.5 million in improvements to Crestview CC in two years and has taken the formerly member-owned club that was near bankruptcy to a much better place, with 275 new families.
“Which means on a financial standpoint, we are in tremendous condition,” Hippe said.
Crestview is hosting the Wichita Open this week. “We’re business as usual,” Hippe told The Eagle, adding that he’s happy the potential sale is off the table.
“I can assure you that this is a positive for the community and positive for Crestview moving forward,” Hippe said.
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