Callaway Golf’s (CALY) sale of 60 percent of Topgolf to Leonard Green & Partners, which closed this past Jan. 5 for $1.1 billion, included approximately $800 million in cash in this transaction. Callaway Golf President/CEO Chip Brewer told Wall Street analysts his company “immediately’’ repaid $1 billion of its Term Loan B debt.
“Following the deal close and the repayment of the debt, we are in a net cash positive position, and we anticipate generating positive cash flow this year, returning capital to shareholders and ending the year with a continued net cash to zero net leverage position,’’ Brewer said. “We also expect Topgolf to thrive going forward and that this transaction will provide our investors with the upside of Topgolf without any operational involvement from the Callaway management team and with no financial obligations.’’
All Topgolf lease and debt obligations, Brewer said, remain with the new Topgolf entity, with no recourse to Callaway Golf.
“With these transactions behind us, we’ve returned to our roots as a leading ‘pure-play’ golf company, including returning to our prior name, Callaway Golf Company.
“As we get ready for the peak spring and summer sales seasons, we are excited about our new product offerings across our business, as well as healthy market fundamentals. At the same time, there are some external factors to consider. First, incremental tariff expense of approximately $40 million in 2026, on top of approximately $35 million last year, is driving higher than historical price points in several categories. In addition, although the golf consumers remained healthy and engaged over the last year, both overall consumer confidence and job growth have been at lower than desired levels. Taken altogether, these dynamics warrant close monitoring.’’
Callaway reported a one percent drop in 2025 sales versus ’24 to 2,060 billion,with earnings of $128 million – a 25 percent drop versus ’24. The company expects 2026 full year revenue of ,$1.98 billion-$2.05 billion, down slightly at the midpoint versus last year,
