Olin Buys AMMO, Inc.’s Ammunition Manufacturing Assets

Olin Corporation, the parent company of Winchester Ammunition, announced today that they entered into an agreement with AMMO, Inc. to purchase AMMO’s small caliber ammunition manufacturing assets. The purchase price was $75 million.

From the announcement:

The acquisition includes AMMO’s brass shellcase capabilities and their world-class, 185,000 square foot production facility located in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, constructed in 2022. The Manitowoc facility and its employees will complement Winchester’s existing production capabilities, enabling greater specialization and broader participation across high-margin specialty calibers. Once fully integrated with Winchester’s industry-leading economies of scale and integration across the commercial ammunition value chain – from raw material sourcing, to projectiles, primers, and loading capabilities – the acquisition is anticipated to yield realized synergies of $40 million.

AMMO, Inc.’s 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission notes that after the completion of the sale of their ammo business the company will continue to operate their GunBroker.com online marketplace business.

The sale of the ammunition business to Olin is scheduled to be completed in the second quarter of 2025. Ken Lane, Olin’s President and CEO, said of the purchase, “We expect the Manitowoc assets to generate $15 million to $20 million of incremental adjusted EBITDA in the first year and, by the third year, we expect to have paid less than two times adjusted EBITDA.”

It sounds to me like Olin’s Winchester Ammunition just got themselves a bargain.

Insofar as AMMO, Inc. is concerned, their stock (POWW) closed up 12% today.

Vista Outdoor Sells Ammo Business To Czechoslovak Group

Vista Outdoor had been planning to spin off their Sporting Products group as an independent business. The Sporting Products group included Federal, Remington, CCI, Speer, Alliant Powder, Hevi-Shot, and Estate Cartridges. They had adopted the name The Kinetic Group for the spun-off company. The spin off was to happen in the fourth quarter of this year.

That was announced at the beginning of September. Between then and this morning, things changed. It was announced this morning that Vista Outdoor would sell the Sporting Products group aka The Kinetic Group to Czechoslovak Group for $1.91 billion dollars in an all cash transaction. Czechoslovak Group (CSG) is a a Czech-based holding company with over 30 companies and 10,000 employees worldwide.

CSG has a number of divisions including CSG Aerospace, CSG Defence, CSG Mobility which makes Tatra trucks, and CSG Ammo. This last division includes ammo companies Fiocchi, Italy-based Baschieri & Pellagri, and UK-based Lyalvale Express. Fiocchi has plants in Italy, the UK, and in Ozark, Missouri which is just outside of Springfield.

Jason Vanderbrink will remain as CEO of the Sporting Products business under CSG and it will remain headquartered in Anoka, Minnesota. The leadership team of this business will include “Al Kerfeld, CFO; Jeff Ehrich, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary; and Mark Kowalski, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer.”. The current CFO of Vista Outdoor will remain with Vista which is being renamed Revelyst.

Gary McArthur, interim CEO of Vista Outdoor, noted that the previous plans to spin off the Sporting Products business allowed them to pivot easily to making it a sale rather than a spin-off. He added that he thought a sale would provide a better way to maximize value for shareholders.

Jason Vanderbrink added:

“We are confident that CSG is a great home for our leading ammunition brands,” said Jason Vanderbrink, CEO of Sporting Products. “The company is fully committed to our iconic American brands and expanding our legacy of U.S. manufacturing, support for military and law enforcement customers, and investments in conservation and our hunting and shooting heritage. We are excited to work closely with the CSG team as we enter this next phase and position our brands for long-term success.”

Michal Strnad, CEO and 100% owner of CSG, said he was looking forward to partnering with Vanderbrink and his leadership team. He went on to add that he and CSG were “committed to expanding their legacy of U.S. manufacturing and providing resources to accelerate their growth.”

An investor call concerning the sale was held at 9am EDT this morning. It was recorded and you can listen to it here. You will need to register your name and email. A PDF of all the slides is here.