October 2012    Download the Entire Issue (PDF)

Vol. 27, No. 10   What's this?

PADI Has a New Owner

from the October, 2012 issue of Undercurrent  

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PADI, which started as a little nonprofit organization decades ago, has not only been owned by a private equity firm, it's just been sold to another private equity firm. The New York firm Lincolnshire Management announced in August that it had bought PADI Worldwide Corp., based in Rancho Santa Maragarita, CA, from Seidler Equity Partners.

Lincolnshire's managing director Kate Lehman told Buyouts that she and her colleagues liked PADI because of its global presence, and because of Lincolnshire's experience with membership-supported organizations that provide training in the sports and recreation industry. Holdings in the firm's portfolio also include Flight Training Acquisitions, an aviation training company, and The Alaska Club, a chain of fitness clubs in Alaska....