Sam Holman started making maple baseball bats in his garage in Ottawa 10 years ago because he was trying to win a bar challenge. Holman wanted to prove to a baseball scout that a bat made from the wood of a rock maple tree would be more durable than one made from the wood of a northern ash tree.
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Ian Austen for The New York Times
Sam Holman¡¯s 10-year-old Original Maple Bat Corporation is a $1.5-million-a-year operation. He put it up for sale on eBay for $3.5 million.
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Barry Bonds is Sam Holman¡¯s top client. Bonds first used a Sam Bat, which is made from maple instead of ash, eight years ago in batting practice.
Holman¡¯s foray into building the better bat has blossomed from a one-man operation in a 300-square-foot workshop into a $1.5-million-a-year business in a 29,000-square-foot warehouse. One of the first maple bats Holman made was used by an 11-year-old. Now Barry Bonds is one of Holman¡¯s clients.
But as much as Holman enjoys owning and operating the Original Maple Bat Corporation and loves that his products are called Sam Bats, he is 61 years old and needs a retirement plan. Holman would like to conclude his charming story by selling the business, helping a new owner adjust and then drifting away in four or five years.
So where does a humble batmaker who is most comfortable when his overalls are covered in sawdust turn to sell his beloved corporation? To eBay, of course. After Holman¡¯s brother, John, suggested using the online auction service, Holman pounced. He set the starting bid at $3.5 million or $3,951,850.65 Canadian.
¡°It¡¯s such an unusual business,¡± Holman said. ¡°This seemed like the modest modern way to do something like this.¡±
When Holman listed the corporation last month, his product description detailed how he was ready to unload everything, including his future services. He cited the building in Quebec, two acres of land, the patents, the trademarks, the machinery and a world-class client list of 150 major leaguers. Bonds, Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard and Alfonso Soriano are some of the marquee players on the list. Holman said the company needed ¡°inspired vision and wherewithal¡± to move forward.
At least 20 people bookmarked Holman¡¯s entry, meaning they wanted updates during the weeklong bidding process. Holman received several calls and e-mail messages. Some people wanted to devise his exit strategy. Others wondered if the listing was a prank. And still others wanted to combine businesses.
Not every inquiry was worth Holman¡¯s time. One official from a lumber company contacted Holman and was excited about collaborating and making Sam Bats as accessible as hammers.
¡°The guy called me and says, ¡®Do you think that we could sell them at Home Depot?¡¯ ¡± Holman said. ¡°I was in disbelief. Did he even know what a baseball bat was?¡±
There was 168 hours of curiosity and interest, even from a competitor that Holman would not divulge. But in the end, no one bid on the Original Maple Bat Corporation. Holman said he was not surprised and never expected any bids.
Basically, Holman¡¯s plan was to use the power of eBay to advertise that his business was for sale. One of his greatest fears was that a competing company would swoop in and buy the business. While Holman wants to sell, he wants to do it on his own terms.
¡°I set the price high intentionally,¡± Holman said. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to say goodbye instantly.¡±
Even though Holman did not make a sale through eBay, he achieved what he wanted. The listing generated enough attention from the media that Holman is now negotiating with five parties on a possible sale. Three of them found out about the company¡¯s availability from the eBay listing.
¡°It was a pretty unique sale with a pretty unique price tag,¡± said Erin Sufrin, a spokesperson for eBay in Canada. ¡°Was I surprised it didn¡¯t sell? A savvy person would want to do their due diligence before buying a business that big.¡±
Not surprisingly, Holman said eBay asked him to list the business again because the auctioneers enjoyed the publicity, too. But Holman declined because he has potential buyers and is now hopeful of selling by Christmas. While Holman does not expect to get $3.5 million, he believes it will sell for more than $2 million.
¡°I think Google started the same year I did,¡± Holman said. ¡°One of us is wildly successful.¡±
Holman, a former stagehand with the National Arts Center in Ottawa and an accomplished woodcarver, is too self-deprecating to call himself a pioneer. But he is. When Joe Carter of the Toronto Blue Jays sneaked a Sam Bat into a game in 1997, maple bats had not yet been approved by Major League Baseball. That approval came one year later.
Since then, the market for maple bats has dramatically increased. Rick Redman, a spokesperson for Hillerich & Bradsby, said 2006 was the first season in which H & B sold more maple than ash bats. H & B has been making Louisville Sluggers since 1884 and sells 60 percent of the bats used by major leaguers.
