Marucci Sports, a Baton Rouge sports apparel manufacturer primarily known as a bat supplier for Major League Baseball, has been sold for $572 million.
Compass Diversified, a Connecticut firm that bought the company in April 2020 for $200 million, sold Marucci Sports to Fox Factory Holding Corp., the parent company of FOX, which designs and manufactures products for bicycles, on-road vehicles and off-road vehicles.
The deal is expected to close later this month. Compass Diversified said the money will be used to pay down debt.
Kurt Ainsworth, co-founder and CEO of Marucci Sports, said the company anticipates “further growth under FOX’s ownership.” He also thanked Compass Diversified for its “relentless support.”
“FOX’s enthusiast culture, coupled with its focus on driving growth through strong brands, highly engineered products and disruptive technologies fits well with our values and mission,” Ainsworth said in a statement. “We look forward to leveraging their innovation and growth success as we expand our sales reach and breadth.”
Compass Diversified CEO Elias Sabo said the company was proud of Marucci’s growth under its ownership. He noted Marucci bought other brands such as Lizard Skins and Baum Bat in the last few years.
“We acquired the business in April 2020 based on our confidence in Marucci’s brand and management team,” Sabo said in a statement. “This was at a time when few transactions were being completed due to the pandemic, yet our flexible capital structure allowed us to execute in times of uncertainty and generate value for our shareholders. Since then, the Marucci team has acted decisively, growing its core business and gaining share in new markets like fielding gloves and softball.”
In a statement, Fox Factory Holding Corp. praised Marucci Sports as an innovative company that produces “highly engineered” bats and other baseball and softball products.
“Much like FOX, Marucci leads by winning the professional athlete which drives their next level performance products across the player and enthusiast market,” the Fox Factory statement said. “Together, we expect to leverage technology and innovation to extend the value of our brands and further solidify our top and bottom-line growth story.”
Marucci Sports LLC was founded in 2009 by Ainsworth, a former big league and LSU pitcher, along with Joe Lawrence and Reed Dickens. Its first acquisition was Marucci Bat Co., which former LSU athletic trainer Jack Marucci launched in a backyard shed in 2004.
In 2017, Marucci acquired Pennsylvania-based custom wood bat competitor Victus Sports for an undisclosed price. According to Bat Digest, 24% of major league players swung Marucci bats on opening day of the 2023 season, while 23% hit with Victus bats.