Roundhill Group LLC

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Remington Arms Set To Reopen March 1st

February 4, 2021 by 3 Comments

The Roundhill Group which bought Remington Arms in the bankruptcy auction tentatively plans to restart production at the Ilion plant March 1st. According to WKTV Channel 2 Utica (NY), maintenance will begin on the plant in mid-February in preparation for the March 1 restart.

Roundhill Group partner, Richmond Italia, said the company plans to bring back 200 employees by the first day of production.

Italia says the company is working with the state to increase jobs at the Ilion facility.

“We’re deep in negotations with the state, trying to come up with some sort of compromise to build a new facility,” said Italia. “If we are able to come to terms and we do build a new facility, we will consolidate everything in New York, which will bring the company back to 800 to 1,000 employees, eventually.”

Roundhill Group obtained their Federal Firearms License in early January.

A story in the Utica Times-Telegram indicates that they may have some negotiating to do with United Mine Workers of America Local 717 which represents the workers at the Ilion plant.

Remington workers are represented by United Mine Workers of America Local 717, and union members expressed confusion about the offers they received in December to begin work at the plant again in February.

The offers said they would receive the same salaries they had been making, but there would be some changes to the health plan and workers would be employed “at will,” which could deny them due process if they were terminated for any reason.

Phil Smith, UMWA director of communications and governmental affairs, said at the time that there had been no talks with Roundhill and that companies could not legally ask union members at a facility where there is a union contract to work without that contract as a condition of employment.

Italia said Friday that the owners are in talks with the union and “hope to come to a mutual beneficial agreement for all parties involved.”

He said the offer to the employees was not conditioned on waiting for these negotiations to be complete.

“I understand people need jobs to survive,” he said. “I’ve been there, and I sympathize. We are willing to risk reopening the plant, even while in negotiations.”

As to which firearm they will start producing first, Shooting Illustrated reports that it will be the 870 shotgun.

In an aside, there is a report that the lawsuit in Connecticut against Remington, Soto v. Remington, is still scheduled to go to trial in September. I don’t see how it can as it appears that none of the pre-bankruptcy legal liabilities were assumed by any of the bidders in the bankruptcy auction.

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Roundhill Group On Remington Purchase

October 1, 2020 by 2 Comments

There has been a lot of speculation on the Roundhill Group that purchased the non-Marlin firearms business of Remington Outdoor Company. Some reports had them as a property management company in Virginia which just didn’t quite fit. They are now identified as an investment company with headquarters in Pennsylvania and Florida.

From a post on SBG Media:

Roundhill Group, LLC, an investment company with headquarters in Pennsylvania and Florida, announced that it is purchasing Remington Firearms. The purchase includes all long guns, shotguns, pistols, the firearms manufacturing facilities, museum, and gift shop.

Roundhill Group LLC partner and spokesman, Jeff Edwards addressed questions regarding the acquisition:

“As is known, Roundhill Group LLC and a group of experienced firearms manufacturing and hunting industry professionals are in the process of purchasing Remington Firearms. Our intent with this acquisition is to return the company to its traditional place as an iconic American hunting brand. We intend to maintain, care for and nurture the brand and all of the dedicated employees who have crafted these products over the years for outdoorsmen and women both here in the USA and abroad. More than anything, we want to make Remington a household name that is spoken with pride.”

Edwards added, “The Roundhill Group is comprised of a group of individuals all of whom have years of experience in engineering, manufacturing and marketing both in and outside of the firearms space. They are all life-long hunting advocates and staunch Remington brand loyalists. They will work tirelessly to ensure that this company takes its rightful place as the iconic American brand that it was and still is.”

According to the court documents, the winning bid was for $13 million and this has been approved by the US Bankruptcy Court of the District of Northern Alabama.

We still don’t know too much about this group so I am anxious to see that comes out about them in the following days and weeks in the run-up to the SHOT Show.

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Remington Outdoor Company Bankruptcy Update

September 28, 2020 by 3 Comments

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.