3 June 2022 Vendis and Equip join forces with the founders of Mountain Village to create the House of Discs, a new powerhouse to develop the disc golf industry
Skellefteå (SE), June 2nd 2022 – Vendis Capital & Equip Capital, two leading private equity funds with a strong expertise in consumer goods, join forces and invest in Mountain Village, a leading European producer and group of disc golf brands.
Mountain Village was founded 2005 in Skellefteå in Sweden by four former disc golf professionals and enthusiasts with the idea of actively participating to the development and professionalization of the sport by catering for the need of high-quality discs of this ever-increasing community. They have built the globally leading brand Latitude 64 and are the world’s second largest producer of golf discs.
Disc golf is a sport and recreational outdoor activity played using flying discs thrown at a basket with chains catching the disc. The sport is one of the fastest growing globally, with the number of players in the world having grown at 15-20% p.a. over the past ten years, supported by an extremely loyal base of disc golf enthusiasts as well as a strong build-up of disc golf courses, most notably in the United States and Northern Europe. Disc golf is projected to double every four years and is an accessible, outdoor sport that can be played by everyone.
The company is active in the production and sales of golf discs and other equipment under several own brands, including Latitude 64, Westside Discs and the recently acquired Kastaplast brand. Own brands are mainly distributed in specialized disc golf shops as well as larger sporting good retail chains and are increasingly sold online, through the companies’ own webshops and several major online commercial sites. Next to its own brands, Mountain Village also produces for other disc golf brands capitalizing on its unique disc production capabilities and knowledge of the sport.
As part of the transaction, Vendis and Equip invest alongside the founders and become the majority shareholders of Mountain Village. Going forward, the group will combine organic and external growth levers to drive its strategic agenda with the ambition to build the House of Discs, the ultimate disc golf company uniting a number of leading disc golf brands building on strong pillars in branding and marketing, production, and R&D as well as distribution and course building.
Svante Eriksson, co-founder at Mountain Village: “We have had a lot of interest in our company and now see an opportunity to reinvest alongside Vendis and Equip to build the largest disc golf group in the world. Vendis’ and Equip’s focus and track record in the consumer sector made us choose to go with them and we have already put a lot of thought on what we aim to do next. This is just the beginning of an already great journey.”
David Berglund, CEO and co-founder at Mountain Village: “We have worked hard together with a passionate and dedicated staff force for the past decade. Their knowledge of the company and the sport has helped us build a great relationship with our loyal disc golf -fans and business partners. I am very excited to move forward with this new partnership and am convinced that there are still many great things to do in this sport.”
Cedric Olbrechts, partner at Vendis Capital: “We are delighted to partner up in this adventure with the founders of Mountain Village and Equip. We are also very impressed by what the founders have established at Mountain Village and thank them for their trust. We are convinced disc golf will continue to gain in popularity in the years to come and are looking forward to actively contributing to its growth and further internationalization.”
Sverre Flåskjer, partner at Equip Capital: «We are deeply impressed by what the team has achieved from their base in Skellefteå, building strong brands and the world’s best producer of discs in one of the fastest growing sports globally. We are confident that the sport will continue to grow rapidly, and we look forward to partnering with the founders and Vendis to take an active role in shaping the sport and the industry”.