Indian Wells operator in talks to acquire Philmont, other golf clubs, company chief says

ClubCorp, the private-equity-backed operator of golf and country clubs including Firestone and Indian Wells, is in talks to buy Philmont Country Club in Huntingdon Valley and 15 other properties now owned by Concert Golf Partners, Concert's chief executive said in an email to Philmont members.

Newport Beach, Calif.-based Concert also owns White Manor Country Club in Malvern, but it was not immediately known whether that property would be part of the deal.

The negotiations come barely a year after Philmont was acquired by Concert and about nine months after New York-based buyout firm Apollo Global Management LLC agreed to acquire ClubCorp of Dallas for $1.1 billion.

"Concert Golf has entered into discussions with ClubCorp to acquire 16 of our clubs, including Philmont," Peter Nanula wrote in the Sunday afternoon message. "Over the next few months, our staff will be working closely with the ClubCorp team as they conduct due diligence on the clubs and we communicate to them all of the unique qualities and specific commitments we have made to the members at Philmont."

Concert's website lists 17 golf clubs, including Philmont and White Manor, as well as Muttontown Club in East Norwich, N.Y., Indian Spring Country Club in Boynton Beach, Fla., and Blue Hill Country Club, in Boston.

Reached by phone, Nanula declined to discuss the negotiations or specify which clubs would change hands, citing company policy of not commenting on deals that have not closed.

ClubCorp spokeswoman Patty Jerde said in an email that her company also does not comment on transactions that have not been finalized.

"ClubCorp routinely evaluates and entertains discussions about properties for potential acquisition," she said.

Concert Golf acquired 36-hole, 295-acre Philmont, which was founded as an all-Jewish club in 1906, in February 2017 in a deal that involved the payoff of the club's debt and other commitments.

It bought White Manor under a similar arrangement at the end of 2016.

ClubCorp, meanwhile, owns or operates more than 200 golf and country clubs, business clubs, sports clubs and alumni clubs in 27 states, the District of Columbia and two foreign countries, according to its website.

Its properties include the Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio; Indian Wells Country Club near Palm Desert, Calif., and the Woodlands Country Club in the Woodlands, Texas, outside Houston.

It is not known to have made any acquisitions since its takeover by Apollo.

Nanula characterized ClubCorp in his email to Philmont members as the "one company in our industry that can take Philmont to the next level."

"It would take us years — or even decades — to replicate what ClubCorp offers their members," he said.

This article was corrected to reflect that ClubCorp operates the Indian Wells club.