Bowlmor AMF to Acquire Brunswick Corporation's Bowling Center Business

NEW YORK, July 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Bowlmor AMF, the largest operator of bowling centers in the world, announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Brunswick Corporation (NYSE: BC) to acquire Brunswick's bowling center business for $270 million. The proposed transaction encompasses 85 centers in the United States and Canada.

"Following the transformative Bowlmor and AMF merger last year, which established us as the world's largest bowling center operator, the acquisition of Brunswick's bowling centers will further expand our geographic footprint," said Tom Shannon, Chairman, CEO and President of Bowlmor AMF. "We embrace bowling as an entertainment experience and are focused on elevating bowling as a category, bringing it back into popular culture as well as furthering our commitment to league play. This acquisition will provide us with a strategic foothold in a number of additional markets while enabling us to further scale our operations and mission by leveraging our strong marketing, employee training and operational infrastructure. With our shared guest experience-focused values and philosophy, we are excited to welcome the Brunswick centers and employees into the Bowlmor AMF family and anticipate a smooth integration. Injecting excitement into the $4 billion North America bowling market is at the core of what we do and we look forward to providing great opportunities to our collective customer and employee base." 

Brunswick's bowling center business, which generated approximately $187 million in revenue in 2013, is comprised of 85 centers in the United States and Canada, operating under the Brunswick Bowling, Brunswick Zone, Brunswick Zone XL and Brunswick's brands. The Company expects to operate the business as a stand-alone entity, retaining the retail branding and maintaining existing locations. The combined company will have 343 locations, 9,000 employees and annual revenue of approximately $600 million. The transaction is being financed with a sale-leaseback on a significant pool of real estate and a term loan, and is expected to close in approximately 90 days. Concurrent with the closing, Larry Ross, 38-year bowling industry veteran, will be appointed head of the Brunswick bowling center operations. For a complete listing of Brunswick bowling center locations, please visit www.bowlbrunswick.com.

About Bowlmor AMF: Bowlmor AMF is the largest operator of bowling centers in the world, with 250 domestic locations and 8 locations in Mexico that specialize in corporate and special events, as well as league and walk-in retail bowling. The company was created in 2013 following the merger of Bowlmor, an upscale bowling and entertainment company, and AMF Bowling Worldwide, which was at the time the world's largest owner and operator of bowling centers. For more information, please visit www.bowlmor.com and www.amf.com.

SOURCE Bowlmor AMF