Vista Outdoor, the parent company of dozens of iconic hunting, fishing, and gear brands, is about to be divvied up and sold. On Friday, the Anoka, Minnesota-based conglomerate announced that it had agreed to split itself into two parts to be sold to two distinct buyers in deals valued at a total of $3.35 billion.
After resisting multiple takeover attempts from a rival firm, MNC Capital, Vista struck separate agreements with two buyers, Strategic Value Partners (SVP) and Czechoslovak Group (CSG).
The sale, which had been in discussions for quite some time now, will affect dozens of core brands in both the outdoor recreation and hook and bullet sectors. Among them, brands like Camp Chef, Simms, QuietKat, Remington, Hevi Shot, Stone Glacier, and many more will have new ownership soon.
It’s hard to know what, if any, impacts consumers will see in their favorite brands.
The sale breaks Vista’s two units — sporting goods under the Revelyst moniker and ammunition under the name Kinetic — apart as the separate sectors now split ways to separate owners.
Sporting Goods Unit; Revelyst: $1.1 Billion
The company has agreed to sell its sporting goods unit, Revelyst, to the global investment firm Strategic Value Partners (SVP) for $1.1 billion. That unit includes some of the biggest names in the sporting goods and outdoor industry.
SVP, an investment firm with a ballpark $19 billion of assets under management, has offices in Connecticut, New York, Los Angeles, London, and Tokyo.
The outdoor brands represented in the sale include everything from extreme motorsports to hunting to golf. The brands that will now fall under SPVP ownership are Bell, Bushnell, Bushnell Golf, CamelBak, Foresight Sports, Fox Racing, Giro, Simms, Camp Chef, Blackhawk, Stone Glacier, Primos, Blackburn, and QuietKat.
While SVP did not specify how it would manage its brands, it did allude to continuity moving forward.
David Greenberg, Head of SVP’s North American Corporate Investment Team, said, “We are strong believers in the Revelyst story and the potential of this business. With a portfolio of diverse, market-leading brands in the outdoor industry, Revelyst has an unparalleled opportunity to capture market share through its exceptional consumer focus and strengthen its platforms through its operational and supply chain enhancements. We are happy to be partnering with the strong leadership team at Revelyst to help unlock its full potential with SVP’s resources.”
Ammunitions Unit; The Kinetic Group: $2.2 Billion
Vista also revised a previous deal with Czechoslovak Group (CSG) for its ammunition business, Kinetic, now set to sell for $2.2 billion — an increase of $75 million from the original agreement.
The Czechoslovak Group, previously known as Excalibur Group, is a Czech-based industrial and technological holding company that consists of more than 100 businesses globally, employing over 10,000 people. With its headquarters in Prague, CSG operates across various sectors, including defense, aerospace, ammunition, automotive, and railway industries.
Once the deal is finalized, it will own ammunition brands CCI, Federal, HEVI-SHOT, Speer, and Remington. Because of national security concerns, the sale was vetted by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., an interagency panel led by the Treasury Department, which can bar foreign purchases on national security grounds. It approved the sale in June.
The deals, which value Vista at $45 per share, have been approved by the board but still require shareholder approval.
“The board has worked tirelessly to deliver maximum value to its stockholders, and we are pleased to have reached this agreement with SVP and CSG which helps us achieve that objective,” Michael Callahan, chairman of Vista’s board of directors, said in the statement.
