Recent News and Announcements from Centre Partners
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – MacNeill Pride Group® (MPG), a diversified global designer and manufacturer of sporting goods and related products, has purchased Outdoor Recreation Company of America (ORCA), a leading supplier of premium coolers, drinkware and other outdoor accessories. Terms were not disclosed.
ORCA will continue to operate from its Nashville headquarters. Founded in 2012, its product line includes hard-sided coolers, soft-sided backpack style coolers and a full line of stainless steel drinkware. ORCA consistently outranks competitors in cooler ice-retention tests and customer satisfaction, and also holds more licenses than any other cooler brand with over 80 NCAA teams, 32 NFL teams, 30 MLB teams and 30 NHL teams.
ORCA joins a portfolio that includes PrideSports, the world’s leading maker of cleats, studs and spikes for multi-sports under the CHAMP® and Softspikes® brands; Pride Manufacturing Company LLC, which creates engineered wood products such as golf tees, cigar tips and toys; and MacNeill Engineering, which designs, manufactures and tests footwear components.
“The acquisition of ORCA is a natural addition to our company as we continue to expand into new, yet complementary, markets,” said Joe Zeller, CEO of MPG. “This as an attractive opportunity to extend into the lifestyle product market where we have strong existing relationships with sporting goods retailers – both in the U.S. and abroad – that will be beneficial to increasing distribution and sales of ORCA products.”
Joe Henderson, President and COO of MPG, echoed Zeller’s enthusiasm for the deal. “All of our brands are known for innovation and we look forward to applying this to ORCA as we aggressively grow the brand in the future through the introduction of new products and other initiatives,” Henderson said.
Cliff Walker, founder of ORCA, also expressed enthusiasm for the future of the brand. “The backing of MacNeill Pride Group and their deep retail relationships around the globe positions our business for exceptional growth with the products and licenses we have in place,” said Walker.
MPG will debut the ORCA brand at the 2020 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando later this month.
About MacNeill Pride Group
Headquartered in Brentwood, TN with offices across America, Europe and Asia. MacNeill Pride Group, a portfolio company of middle-market private equity firm Centre Partners, helps provide traction elements and retention systems to athletic footwear manufacturers around the globe as well as providing its CHAMP and Softspikes branded products to retail channels worldwide. These brands maintain a preeminent position within the golf, soccer, baseball, football, track & field and many other sports. In addition, the company provides a full line of golf accessories and is the largest producer and distributor of golf tees in the world, with brands including Pride Golf Tee®, Pride Professional Tee System® (PTS) and Zarma Fly Tee®. More information can be found at www.macneill-pride.com.
About ORCA
Based in Nashville, Tennessee and founded in 2012, ORCA has made a name for itself by creating American made, roto-molded coolers that last a lifetime. In the past year, the company has expanded in many ways including growing its staff in Nashville from 10 employees to over 100, bringing assembly and customization in-house, and most notably adding licensed products to its repertoire. From custom color coolers to laser engraved drinkware, ORCA is dedicated to creating products that make every moment cool. For more information on the ORCA brand and its products, please visit www.ORCAcoolers.com.