The number of golf courses in Japan owned by foreign investors is set to top the 200 mark soon and account for about 10 percent of the nation's 2,400 courses, industry sources said Saturday.
According to industry magazine sources and others, there were 189 golf courses owned or run by foreign-affiliated operators as of the end of December, and 27 more will come under foreign capital in this month and next.
Among foreign investors, U.S. investment fund LoneStar Group owns the most with 92. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. of the U.S. follows with 78.
U.S. investment firm Ripplewood Holdings LLC owns four golf courses in Japan.
South Korean investors have moved to acquire Japanese golf courses as well and already own 10.
According to Teikoku Databank, the number of failed golf course management companies has risen rapidly since 2001, peaking at 109 in 2002.
There were 90 bankruptcies in 2003 and 73 in January through November last year.
Golf course businesses have deteriorated in Japan with the number of duffers decreasing since the bursting of the bubble economy in the early 1990s.