Bowlero Corporation (formerly known as Bowlmor AMF) is an American bowling center operator. It is the largest ten-pin bowling center operator in the world with over 325 centers, almost all of which are located in the United States. The centers have an average of 40 lanes compared to the U.S. bowling center average of 21 lanes.
As of September 2019, Bowlero Corporation is also the parent company of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA).
The company's main bowling center brands in the United States include the namesake Bowlero brand, the upscale Bowlmor Lanes, and the legacy AMF Bowling brand. The company's U.S. centers represent 7% of the country's 4,200 commercial bowling centers.
History
Bowlmor AMF was formed in July 2013 when AMF Bowling Worldwide, which had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2012, reorganized and combined with Strike Holdings LLC, which operated the upscale Bowlmor Lanes. The new company was jointly owned by Bowlmor, certain of AMF Bowling's second lien lenders including an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management, and Credit Suisse. At the time of the merger, the merged company operated 272 bowling centers and had 7,500 employees and a combined annual revenue of approximately $450 million.
In the AMF Bowling reorganization, AMF's second lien lenders converted their debt into equity in Bowlmor AMF. Credit Suisse provided a $230 million term loan facility and a $30 million revolving loan facility, and the largest holders of AMF's existing second lien debt provided $50 million of backstop financing to provide working capital for Bowlmor AMF and to pay cash distributions in varying amounts to AMF's other creditors. AMF's first lien lenders received payment in full, in cash, of principal, interest at the non-default rate, and their fees.
Bowlmor Founder and CEO Tom Shannon became Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President of the combined company, and Bowlmor's Chief Financial Officer and former president, Brett Parker, became Vice Chairman, Chief Financial Officer, and Executive Vice President. Shannon and Parker collectively retained 22% of Bowlmor AMF and were set to receive bonuses based on their ability to increase the profitability and worth of Bowlmor AMF.
As part of the AMF Bowling reorganization, Bowlmor AMF assumed control of AMF Bowling's 50% interest in QubicaAMF Worldwide, one of the largest manufacturers of bowling products in the world. In December 2014 the Qubica founders and partners acquired this interest from Bowlmor AMF.
In July 2014, the company announced that it had agreed to acquire all 85 centers of Brunswick Bowling & Billiards in a transaction to be financed by the sale and leaseback of 58 of the centers to iStar Financial, as well as a term loan. The acquisition was completed in September 2014.
Shannon was named Bowling Proprietor of the Year in 2014 by Bowlers Journal International Magazine in recognition of his "vision and bold initiatives" to "divide the AMF bowling empire into three distinct brands."
In June 2017, private equity firm Atairos Group paid in excess of $1 billion to acquire Bowlmor AMF from its previous investors, with Shannon continuing to hold his "significant investment."
Bowlmor AMF changed its name to Bowlero Corporation on January 4, 2018.
On September 10, 2019, Bowlero Corporation announced it had purchased the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). While retaining current PBA Commissioner Tom Clark, Bowlero also appointed its Chief Customer Officer, Colie Edison, to the new role of CEO for the PBA. In an interview with Lucas Wiseman, senior editor for the PBA's FloBowling channel, Edison noted that Bowlero had been in talks with the PBA leadership for a number of years, before finally deciding the time was right for the acquisition.
By January 2020, all remaining Brunswick locations were rebranded with either the Bowlero or AMF names.
On October 9, 2020, Bowlero Corporation was featured on the American TV Series Undercover Boss, with CCO Colie Edison in the role of the disguised boss.
In April 2021, Bowlero partnered with sports betting company, BettorView, in order to display sports data and wagering at multiple locations.
As of June 23, 2021, Bowlero was in merger talks with Isos Acquisition Corporation, a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) led by former WWE executives, to go public through a merger. On July 1, 2021, Isos Acquisition Corporation announced it had officially merged with Bowlero, with the intent to take Bowlero public and list it on the New York Stock Exchange.