Smaller companies private equity firm Anacacia Capital has made the first investment from its fourth fund taking a majority stake in electric golf buggy maker MGI Golf.
Anacacia Private Equity IV, which is believed to have a target of $300 million, is still raising. Local institutions believed to have committed so far include real estate-focused private equity firm Barwon Investment Partners, which invests on behalf of wholesale investors, and wealth management firm ARA Consultants, which manages a fund-of-funds.
Anacacia managing director Jeremy Samuel said other Australian and international institutions, high net-worth family offices and the Anacacia team were also investors. The fund remained open for further investment with a final close expected “in coming months”.
Anacacia typically invests in Australian lower mid-market businesses, with annual revenues in the range $20 million to $500 million, and alongside owners seeking to arrange staged retirement.
MGI Golf, which was founded in 1993, is believed to be generating revenue of around $50 million a year.
Samuel said the transaction was a proprietary deal in a company Anacacia had known for several years. The relationship had been elevated to due diligence over the last few months as Anacacia worked with MGI’s owners, the Edwards family, to tailor a solution that would work for everyone.
Co-investors in the deal include Athletic Ventures, the sports stars’ investment firm that includes golfer Karrie Webb, basketballer Matthew Dellavedova, AFL footballer Matt de Boer and cricketers Mitchell Starc and Alyssa Healy.
Anacacia is backing MGI’s existing management team who remain significant shareholders. Sisters Carrie Edwards-Britt and Miranda Turner are to continue as joint chief executives with the company’s founder, their father Ian Edwards, remaining on the board as a non-executive director. Anacacia will now also be represented on the board.
Ian Edwards said Anacacia was already supporting the MGI management team as it dealt with with increasing demand for its industry leading electric golf buggies and increasing its supplier base to keep up with that demand.
MGI’s buggies enable golfers to walk around a course without having to shoulder their clubs. The company also sells Sureshot laser rangefinders. MGI golf buggies dominate the market in Australia and have strong positions in the US and Nordic markets. The company also has growing sales in other markets.
Turner, who leads the company in North America, said she expected the next growth phase would be focused on that market which already generates most of the company’s revenue.
Interest in playing golf has increased around the world since the pandemic with participation accelerated by an increasing proportion of women taking up the sport.
Advisers to the deal were Deloitte, DLA Piper, Arnold Block Leibler, Canadian law firm Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg, Atlanta, Georgia-based advisory firm Aprio, and Willis Towers Watson.
Image: MGI’s electric buggies enable golfers to walk around a course without having to shoulder their clubs.