Denver’s Exeter Buys Pinseeker Golf, Larlen

A Denver investment group said Thursday that it has hooked two small Santa Ana golf-products companies--Pinseeker Golf Corp. and Larlen Inc.--to get a slice of the action on the increasingly popular sport.

The Exeter Group said it paid more than $4 million to acquire Pinseeker, a manufacturer of golf clubs and related equipment sold nationally through golf specialty shops. The Santa Ana firm has annual sales of about $7 million.

Pinseeker has been solely owned since 1976 by Michael Metzgar Sr. and has slowly established itself as one of the better-known small makers of golf clubs. Metzgar, Pinseeker’s chairman, said he decided to sell the 50-employee company because the price was right.

“The Exeter Group has been after me for 20 months,” he said, adding that his company has been courted by European and Japanese firms for about five years. Metzgar, a former Army officer whom employees call “the Colonel,” said he preferred to sell to an American company.

Metzgar and his wife, Victoria, who is the company secretary and treasurer, will remain with the company as consultants for five years.

Exeter acquired Larlen, a designer and importer of sportswear marketed under the Dache brand and sold in golf specialty stores, in a stock swap deal. Larlen officials declined to provide additional financial details of the sale, and Exeter officials could not be reached for comment.

Larlen has 20 employees and annual revenue of $5 million. Larlen President Lawrence Spitz said there will be no change in the company’s management.

The golf industry has been experiencing growing sales in recent years as the sport gains popularity, especially among the baby boom generation.

“We anticipate that these acquisitions will offer numerous marketing and other opportunities for the combined companies and . . . will produce a stronger, more diversified competitor in the golf industry as golf continues its growth and popularity in the 1990s,” said Larlen Chairman Jack Butler. The two transactions are expected to close around Dec. 15.

The Exeter Group, founded in 1988, is a private investment group with principals in Los Angeles, Denver and New York.