Donnay

The company was founded in 1910 by Emile Donnay (1885–1972) as a wooden tool handle manufacturing co-operative with six employees.[1] Emile Donnay had little education and a modest background.[4] The company began to diversify into other wooden products, including a bow for archers, which continues to be reflected in the Donnay bow-shaped logo.[5] In 1924 Donnay built premises in Couvin.[6]

The company manufactured its first tennis rackets in 1934.[7] In the early 1950s the company won a valuable contract to produce tennis rackets for Wilson.[8]

By 1969 Donnay was the world's largest manufacturer of tennis rackets. By the early 1970s, Donnay was producing 2 million rackets a year, 1.3 million of which were shipped to Wilson for distribution.[8] Production suffered in 1973, when Wilson relocated its tennis racket production to Taiwan.[8]

Björn Borg using a Donnay racket in the final of the 1979 ABN Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam

In 1981 Donnay produced 1.8 million rackets, almost all made from ash.[9] The company failed to adapt to the changing market for the new lightweight graphite rackets.[8] The company produced only 3,000 graphite rackets in 1980, instead concentrating on wood and aluminium rackets.[8] The company continued to manufacture wooden rackets until 1984, by which time they were obsolete.[10]

Buoyed by the success of signing up Björn Borg as a Donnay user, the company employed 600 people and manufactured around 1.5 million tennis rackets a year.[1] In 1981 Donnay reported a turnover of 2.1 billion Belgian francs. Donnay's fortunes began to fade when Borg retired in 1983.[8] Its success had been too closely aligned with Borg's success, and the company lost money for four years before entering administration in 1988 after amassing debts of $35 million.[8][11] The company had apparently lacked the negotiation skills to attract another player of Borg's standing as a figurehead.[1]

The Donnay family still controlled 55 percent of the company when it went bankrupt in 1988.[1] The Walloon and Belgian governments held the remaining shares.[1] The company was acquired by a group of investors, led by Bernard Tapie with a 51 percent stake, the Walloon government with 29 percent and Albert Frère with 20 percent.[11] In 1991 Tapie sold his 58 percent stake in the company to the Walloon government for $16.2 million in order to finance the acquisition of Adidas shares.[12] The government sold the factory to an Italian sports equipment manufacturer, Carbon Valley, and retained the brand rights.[12] In December 1992 the Walloon government took ownership of the company in order to prevent it from entering administration again.[13]

In 1996, Sports Direct International acquired the worldwide rights to the Donnay brand from the Walloon government for $3.9 million.[2] At the time of the acquisition, production was based in Portugal, while 23 people remained employed at a distribution centre in Couvin.[2] SportsDirect sells Donnay products as an in house brand and licences its production of Donnay branded products overseas.[14] SportsDirect also separately licenses the brand to independent manufacturers and sellers of Donnay branded products, including tennis racquet production in the United States.[15]

Initially, Donnay sponsored Belgian tennis players, and due to the amateur nature of the sport at the time, was only allowed to provide rackets and balls, and a small fee.[5] Its first foreign sponsorship was with the French tennis player Yvon Petra.[5] Rod Laver, Margaret Court and Cliff Drysdale all played with Donnay rackets.[6]

Donnay sponsored Björn Borg from 1975 to 1983, providing his racket.[1][16] When Borg renewed the contract in 1979, it was worth $600,000 a year, plus royalties from Borg branded Donnay rackets.[17]

Andre Agassi was signed to the Donnay brand between 1989 and 1992 for around $1 million a year.[18] Henri Leconte and Greg Rusedski also used Donnay rackets.[19]

• Michel Guilluy and Louis Maraite: Donnay, la légende d'une marque de tennis 1910 - 2013 (2013)

• Official website