LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For well over a century, the Louisville Slugger baseball bat has been the bat of choice for Major League Baseball players, and the history of its parent company, Hillerich & Bradsby (H&B), is nothing short of a true American success story.

A new chapter was written in that history last week as H&B CEO John A. Hillerich IV announced the sale of the iconic bat brand to Wilson Sporting Goods Co. 

To be specific, Wilson is attaining the global brand, sales and innovation rights to Louisville Slugger from H&B.

In a news release, Hillerich said the decision to sell the Louisville Slugger brand was a difficult and serious one to make.

“The Hillerich family, and those closest to the brand, firmly believes that a new business model is necessary to realize the enormous potential of this brand in the future,” he said. “We recognized from our first conversation with Wilson that they would be a great partner and steward of the brand our family created and so many have nurtured for 131 years.”

The announcement came last week just as the new baseball season is about to begin, a season in which approximately 60 percent of those major leaguers will use a Louisville Slugger bat.

During a news conference where the announcement was made officially, Hillerich said the mission of the family over the past 130 plus years has been to be a steward of the Louisville Slugger brand.

“The way we’ve accomplished that was to keep it an independent and family-run business,” he said. “But today things have changed, and we think there’s another strategy. Today we are in a seasonal business of baseball/softball facing the challenges of today’s global business climate, and we’re a family owned company. And while our brand awareness and affinity is tremendous, unfortunately our resources are limited compared to larger, multi-national competitors.”

Wilson Sporting Goods President Mike Dowse said during the news conference what is unique about the relationship between H&B and Wilson is that it’s not a 100 percent acquisition but a partnership.

“It’s really a partnership in that we are acquiring the brand name, the IP (intellectual property) and the trademarks, but the Hillerich family will continue to own the factory and be our exclusive partner,” he said.

That factory is a cornerstone of the downtown Louisville tourism sector and is famous for the world’s largest bat, which adorns the front entrance. The factory itself is part of the museum tours where tour goers see the process by which approximately 1.8 million bats are made a year.

In addition to the factory and museum, H&B will also retain its Bionic Gloves division and Powerbilt golf brands.

Wilson, which makes the official glove of Major League Baseball, is owned by Finnish company Amer Sports Oyj. During a conference call after the announcement, Heikki Takala, Amer Sports CEO, said the company now has the full package for basically all of the players’ needs and, in addition, Louisville Slugger is a real North American consumer landmark brand