by Vista Outdoor, itself a spinoff from Alliant Techsystems or ATK in 2015, announced plans today to split itself into two separate publicly traded companies. One company will be devoted to the outdoor brands such as CamelBak, Camp Chef, and Bushnell while the other company will be composed of the ammunition companies including Federal, Remington, CCI, and Speer. The new names will be announced at a later date.
Chris Metz, Vista Outdoor’s current CEO, will be CEO of the new outdoor brand company which will be headquartered in Bozeman, Montana. Jason Vanderbrink, the current president of the sporting products division of Vista Outdoor, will be appointed CEO of the new ammunition-centric company upon the completion of the spinoff. That company will be headquartered in Federal’s hometown of Anoka, Minnesota.
Looking over the different brands within each division, it appears, if I understand it correctly, that both reloading and hunting products such as RCBS and Primos will remain with the outdoors products company.
From CEO Chris Metz on the decision to split into two companies:
“Over the past few years, we’ve made significant progress executing on our strategy to grow our leading portfolio of brands, driving operational efficiencies and delivering value to our shareholders,” said Chris Metz, Chief Executive Officer of Vista Outdoor. “As a result of our efforts, we have built strong businesses that are well-positioned for continued growth and success as independent companies. As a result of the separation, our Outdoor Products and Sporting Products businesses will have resources, management teams and capital allocation priorities tailored to their respective strategic goals. We are confident that this increased focus will better allow each company to deliver long-term value for its shareholders, employees, customers and other stakeholders. The Centers of Excellence we have built will reside within the Outdoor Products business and continue to provide meaningful industry differentiation.”
“Following a thorough assessment of Vista Outdoor’s businesses, operations and value creation opportunities, the Board determined that a spin-off of its Outdoor Products business would unlock significant value,” said Michael Callahan, Chairman of the Board of Directors. “We are committed to working together through this transformative process to ensure that each company is optimized with the right teams and resources in place so that it can continue to deliver innovative, quality products that enhance outdoor experiences and create value for its shareholders.”
One impact from this spinoff or split is that the sporting products component will be the only major, pure ammunition, publicly traded company in the US. Olin, which owns Winchester, is also a major industrial chemical company. Even AMMO, Inc. has other components such as gunbroker.com which are not involved in the manufacture of ammunition.
