This Deal May Be Right Up Their Alley

Move over, Ralph Kramden: The pinstripe-and-wingtip crowd at Goldman, Sachs & Co. wants to join the bowling leagues.

The Wall Street investment bank was in talks Friday to buy AMF Corp., the nation’s biggest owner of bowling alleys and bowling equipment manufacturer, sources close to the negotiations said. AMF could fetch as much as $1 billion, the sources said.

At first glance, such a deal seems an improbable investment for an elite firm more closely associated with wealthy financial traders than blue-collar alley dwellers. Yet Goldman’s pursuit of profits in the $4 billion U.S. bowling industry is spurred by a trend toward more upscale bowlers, analysts said.

Analysts said AMF is attractive because it is positioned to benefit from an expected consolidation of a fragmented industry that is poised for a rebound.

A spokesman for Goldman Sachs said the privately-held firm had no comment on any talks with AMF.