NEW YORK (The Deal) -- Wilson Sporting Goods is adding the iconic Louisville Slugger bat brand to its closet, agreeing to buy the license to the 131-year-old brand in a deal valued at $70 million.

Chicago-based Wilson, a division of Finland's Amer Sports, is buying the brand license from Louisville Slugger parent Hillerich & Bradsby.

Must Read:10 Stocks Billionaire John Paulson Loves

Terms of the deal call for Hillerich & Bradsby to continue to manufacture the bats in its Louisville, Ky., facility and for the parent to retain ownership of the Louisville Slugger museum, gift shop and other brands including Bionic Gloves and Powerbilt.

Hillerich & Bradsby will become Wilson's exclusive wood bat manufacturing partner.

Louisville Slugger bats are used by more than half of players in the major leagues, but the company has struggled in recent years to keep pace with large, diversified sporting equipment companies such as Wilson.

John A. Hillerich IV, chief executive of Hillerich & Bradsby, called the decision to sell "a difficult and serious one to make" but said that his family determined that a new business model was necessary.

"Wilson has the financial resources, research and development staff and structure, and the experience with big brands to create great synergy and grow the Louisville Slugger business, ensuring that it will remain synonymous with baseball for decades to come," he said.

Wilson is already a significant vendor of baseball equipment via its ATEC, DeMarini and Wilson brands.

The company said that it would sell Louisville Slugger-branded products through its existing distribution channels and that it hopes to build the business worldwide.

"Growing our baseball and softball business globally is a key business strategy, and H&B has created one of the most recognizable baseball brands in the world," Wilson president Michael Dowse said. "We believe Louisville Slugger will enrich our company significantly, enhance our baseball and softball product offering at all levels of the game, and ensure we are delivering only the best-performance products to athletes of every age."

Robert W. Baird acted as financial adviser to H&B in the transaction, with Dorsey & Whitney providing legal counsel.

Must Read:5 Small-Cap Health Care Stocks You Never Heard of But Should Consider for 2015

Read more from

: