KemperSports, the fifth-largest golf course management company in the country, has discussed the possibility of a sale to private equity and is seeking to raise fresh capital, Sportico has learned.
Since its founding in 1978, KemperSports has been owned by Steve Lesnik and the family of co-founder James Kemper Jr., who died in 2002. James Kemper Jr. was well-known in the golf world for his insurance company’s sponsorship of the Kemper Open, a longtime event on both the LPGA and PGA Tours. The KemperSports business had been self-funded until the owners sold equity to three outside investors in 2022. Only one of those investors was publicly disclosed, private equity firm LNC Partners, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
In recent weeks, KemperSports has been looking to raise additional capital and has discussed an acquisition by at least one private equity firm, according to two people familiar with the talks who asked not to be named because the negotiations are private. One of the firms in the fund-raising discussions is New Mountain Capital, a $55 billion (assets) private equity firm founded in 1999 by Steven Klinsky, a longtime partner at leveraged buyout specialist Forstmann Little. In sports, the firm is probably best known for having been an investor in Legends, the hospitality and experience business founded by the Dallas Cowboys and New York Yankees. New Mountain invested in Legends in 2017 and fully realized the investment in 2021, according to the PE firm’s website.
“KemperSports is having ongoing discussions with financing sources for expansion plans at some of its properties,” said KemperSports spokesperson B.R. Koehnemann in an email. “The company is not being sold to New Mountain Capital.”
New Mountain Capital declined to comment.
KemperSports manages more than 140 golf courses in the U.S. including highly rated courses Bandon Dunes in Oregon and Florida’s Streamsong. The company also manages other sports and entertainment facilities, such as the 100,000 square foot NorthShore Sports Center in Chicago and the youth sports-focused Fieldhouse Essex, north of Boston.
Last year, KemperSports reorganized and rebranded its sports events, fan activation and live events arm to KemperSports Live. That business arm operates a variety of events including the McDonald’s All-American high school basketball showcase and manages KitchenAid’s sponsorship of the PGA Senior Tour.
Chicago-based KemperSports’ portfolio of golf courses makes it the fifth-largest golf course manager, a few dozen courses behind Invited and a couple of Japanese companies, according to Golf Inc. Troon, with 610 courses, is easily the world’s largest course manager.
