What Cerberus put together to eventually form Remington Outdoor Company aka Freedom Group, the US Bankruptcy Court for Northern Alabama is taking apart. A court filing today has the results of the auction for the various components of the company. It was first reported by Dan Zimmerman at TTAG.
Earlier in September, I reported that JJE Capital was the stalking horse bidder for Remington’s ammunition business. That was to set the floor. The final bids were released today. These will be subject to approval of the court in a hearing to be held on Tuesday, September 29th.
From the Notice filed with the Bankruptcy Court today:
• Vista Outdoor, Inc. as the Successful Bidder pursuant to the terms of the Asset Purchase Agreement attached hereto as Exhibit A with respect to the Lonoke Ammunitions Business and certain IP assets; and SIG Sauer, Inc. as the Backup Bidder thereto pursuant to the terms of the Asset Purchase Agreement attached hereto as Exhibit B with respect to the Lonoke Ammunitions Business;
• Roundhill Group, LLC as the Successful Bidder pursuant to the terms of the Asset Purchase Agreement attached hereto as Exhibit C with respect to the non-Marlin Firearms Business; and Huntsman Holdings, LLC and Century Arms, Inc. as the Backup Bidders thereto pursuant to the terms of the Asset Purchase Agreement attached hereto as Exhibit D with respect to certain Firearms Business IP assets and Exhibit E with respect to certain non-Marlin Firearms Business inventory, respectively;
• Sierra Bullets, L.L.C. as the Successful Bidder pursuant to the terms of the Asset Purchase Agreement attached hereto as Exhibit F with respect to the Barnes Ammunitions Business; and Barnes Acquisition LLC as the Backup Bidder thereto pursuant to the terms of the Asset Purchase Agreement attached hereto as Exhibit G with respect to the Barnes Ammunitions Business;
• Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. as the Successful Bidder pursuant to the terms of the Asset Purchase Agreement attached hereto as Exhibit H with respect to the Marlin Firearms Business; and Long Range Acquisition LLC as the Backup Bidder thereto pursuant to the terms of the Asset Purchase Agreement attached hereto as Exhibit I with respect to the Marlin Firearms Business;
• JJE Capital Holdings, LLC as the Successful Bidder with respect to the DPMS, H&R, Stormlake, AAC, and Parker brands;
• Franklin Armory Holdings, Inc., or its designated assignee, as the Successful Bidder with respect to the Bushmaster brand and certain related assets; and
• Sportsman’s Warehouse, Inc. as the Successful Bidder with respect to the Tapco brand.
If these bids are approved, Vista Outdoor will become an even larger player in the civilian ammunition market with the addition of Remington’s ammunition factory in Arkansas.
The other big story is that Ruger will be adding the Marlin lever action lineup of rifles to its product line. It is unknown if they will keep the old name or market them under the Ruger name.
JJE Capital is the owner of Palmetto State Armory among other companies. DPMS will be a good fit for them as will H&R in the budget category. I’m not sure of their intention for Parker which makes the reproduction Parker shotguns nor what they plan to do with suppressor maker AAC or barrel maker Stormlake.
Franklin Armory getting Bushmaster will be a good fit for them. Likewise, Sierra Bullets adding Barnes Bullets to their lineup makes sense.
Roundhill Group, LLC is a property management group out of Virginia according to a story out of New York. I’m not sure if that is the correct Roundhill as there are a number of companies by that name with various spellings. Nonetheless, they will be getting the non-Marlin firearms business which would include Remington itself and presumably Dakota Arms. The story indicates a bit of unease in Ilion, NY where the Remington factory is the largest employer in Herkimer County. The backup bidder for this part of the assets includes Century Arms. I would hate to see what they would do with Remington.
Finally, Sportsman’s Warehouse is getting Tapco. I presume they intend for this to be used to provide accessories to be sold in their chain of stores.
The Wall Street Journal does bring up an interesting point in their report on the breakup of Remington into pieces. What happens now with the Connecticut lawsuit?
The Covid-19 pandemic and civil unrest have Americans stocking up on guns and ammunition, but Remington said it was short of funds, despite having erased hundreds of millions of dollars in debt in a 2018 bankruptcy.
The company is facing a lawsuit over its marketing of the Bushmaster rifle, which was used in the December 2012 killing of 20 children and six adult school staffers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
The 2020 bankruptcy halted a lawsuit brought by the families of some of the Sandy Hook victims, which had been preserved in the first pass through chapter 11.
Remington hasn’t said what its drive to throw its assets on the bankruptcy auction block would mean for the Sandy Hook lawsuit or for company retirees who crowded into a session with bankruptcy administrators, asking what would become of their benefits.
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