MNC raises bid to $37.50 for Vista
Vista Outdoor, the parent company of Lonoke-based Remington Ammunition, has received a new unsolicited indication of interest from MNC Capital Partners, LP to acquire the company in an allcash deal valued at $3 billion.
MNC’s new offer is $37.50 a share with Vista Outdoor confirming it had received the bid on Monday. In a news release, Vista Outdoor said its board is reviewing the offer.
The New York Times first reported the indication of interest earlier this week.
Shares of Vista Outdoor closed Wednesday at $33.11, up 28 cents or nearly 1%. The shares have traded as low as $23.33 and as high as $33.96 over the past year.
The new offer comes after Vista rejected an all-cash offer from Texas-based MNC of $35 per share valued at $2.9 billion earlier this month. At the time, Vista Outdoor’s board of directors rejected the MNC bid saying in part it undervalued the company’s outdoor products division. The board continued to recommend the acquisition of the company’s sporting products division by Czech Republic-based Czechoslovak Group, know as CSG.
MNC has said its offer will allow Vista Outdoor’s sporting products business, which includes a raft of ammunition makers including Remington Ammunition, to remain under U.S. ownership. In October, CSG said it would acquire Vista Outdoor’s sporting products business — which encompasses Vista’s ammunition production and sales operations, now known as The Kinetic Group — in a cash deal valued at $1.91 billion. The deal still has to meet certain regu
latory approvals and must be voted on by shareholders.
Vista Outdoor employs about 4,000 workers across its ammunition brands, which include CCI, Federal, HEVI-Shot, Remington and Speer.
Remington Ammunition employs a little more than 1,000 workers in Arkansas at last count. In May of 2022, the company said it would spin off its sporting products segment and its outdoor products segment into two companies.
When and if the deal closes sometime this year, The Kinetic Group would become a wholly owned subsidiary of privately held CSG with plans for its U.S. headquarters to remain in Anoka, Minn.
Minnesota-based Vista Outdoor formed in 2015 and now is made up of 41 outdoor brands, including bicycles, camping gear, golf and skiing equipment, optics and ammunition makers. It purchased Remington Ammunition out of bankruptcy in late 2020.
Remington was founded in 1816 and began production at the Lonoke facility in 1969. The operation includes more than 750,000 square feet of manufacturing space on 1,200 acres.