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N.C. gun company agrees to sale - Remington to be bought by N.Y. equity firm
Charlotte Observer ^ | Apr. 06, 2007 | DANIELLE KOST

Posted on 04/06/2007 5:02:18 PM PDT by neverdem

Remington Arms Co., the N.C. gunmaker that has equipped U.S. soldiers for 150 years, agreed to be acquired by a New York equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP for $118 million.

The company produced its first profit in three years in 2006 after struggling with rising materials costs and increased competition from Smith & Wesson Holding Corp., maker of the .44 Magnum popularized in the "Dirty Harry" movies.

Cerberus is entering the $2.1 billion U.S. firearms industry, whose sales grew an annual average of 28 percent from 1998 to 2005, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. Remington is the country's largest and oldest maker of rifles and shotguns.

Remington was sold by other New York-based private-equity firms Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co. and Clayton Dubilier & Rice Co., according to a company statement Thursday. The company is based in Madison, 25 miles north of Greensboro.

Remington was founded in 1816 by Eliphalet Remington II, who built his flintlock rifle in Ilion Gulch, N.Y., after placing second in a shooting match and attracting the attention of other contestants. The company was rescued by the U.S. government after Russian revolutionaries defaulted on a contract in 1918 and benefited from its purchase during the Great Depression by DuPont Co., which made improvements to gun powder.

Cai Von Rumohr, a Boston-based analyst at Cowen & Co., said Remington may be able to gain market share after U.S. Repeating Arms Co., which licenses the Winchester brand, discontinued three models and closed a factory in New Haven, Conn., where the rifles and shotguns were made for a century and a half.

The Remington transaction includes $252 million of debt. Cerberus spokeswoman JJ Rissi declined to comment on the deal's financial breakdown.

Remington, led by Chief Executive Officer Thomas Millner, stopped making handguns in the 1990s. Stricter federal and state laws governing the sale of pistols prompted gun manufacturers to narrow their focus on shotguns and rifles used for hunting and target shooting. The company's guns include the $812 700 BDL Custom Deluxe and $996 11-87 SPS Super Magnum.

In December, Smith & Wesson agreed to buy Thompson/Center Arms Inc. for $102 million to enter the hunting-rifle market. Springfield, Mass.-based Smith & Wesson, whose revenue is about half that of Remington, is known for its revolvers and pistols.

Last year, Remington posted net income of $300,000 after three years of losses. Sales rose 8.7 percent to $446 million. Smith & Wesson last month said it anticipates earning $12 million on $225 million of sales in fiscal 2007. The company had 2,150 employees at the end of February.

Clayton Dubilier bought Remington's assets from DuPont in 1993 for $300 million. The Wilmington, Del.-based chemical company purchased a 60 percent stake in the gunmaker in 1933 and acquired the remaining shares in 1980. During its 191-year history, Remington branched out to produce typewriters, sewing machines and cash registers, businesses it later divested.

Remington expects to complete the transaction by June 28.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News
KEYWORDS: banglist; remington
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1 posted on 04/06/2007 5:02:20 PM PDT by neverdem
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To: neverdem
The company produced its first profit in three years in 2006 after struggling with rising materials costs and increased competition from Smith & Wesson Holding Corp., maker of the .44 Magnum popularized in the "Dirty Harry" movies.

someone will have to explain how a rifle company is threatened by a handgun company. I'll bet Smith and Wesson is the only company the writer has any knowledge. The hint is the mention of a firearm used in a movie.

2 posted on 04/06/2007 5:09:49 PM PDT by Shooter 2.5 (NRA - Hunter '08)
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To: Shooter 2.5

S&W bought Thompson/Center firearms. They make rifles.


3 posted on 04/06/2007 5:13:22 PM PDT by Hazcat (Live to party, work to afford it.)
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To: Shooter 2.5

Also the holding company that bought Remington also owns Bushmaster and is rumored to be looking for a handgun mfg to purchase.


4 posted on 04/06/2007 5:16:33 PM PDT by Hazcat (Live to party, work to afford it.)
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To: Hazcat

Cerberus is also looking to buy Chrysler Group.

Buy a Jeep, get a 700BDL!


5 posted on 04/06/2007 5:23:00 PM PDT by Erik Latranyi (The Democratic Party will not exist in a few years....we are watching history unfold before us.)
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To: neverdem

I got the 870 special 12 ga. pump 3” mag. Love it


6 posted on 04/06/2007 5:29:02 PM PDT by reefdiver (The sheriff of Nottingham collected taxes on behalf of the common good)
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To: neverdem

Did a six year-old write this article?


7 posted on 04/06/2007 5:29:21 PM PDT by ExpatGator (Extending logic since 1961.)
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To: Hazcat

They don’t make a rifle that’s competitive with Remington unless it might be some blackpowder inlines.
Didn’t Smith just buy Thompson Center this year? How did a less than twelve month purchase threaten Remington? I think the author simply doesn’t know another gun manufacturer or they would have mentioned Thompson Center.


8 posted on 04/06/2007 5:36:33 PM PDT by Shooter 2.5 (NRA - Hunter '08)
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To: reefdiver

I don’t care for the 870 because of the position of the safety. Small problem but I like using a safety without moving my trigger finger. Otherwise great shotgun with lots of add-on toys.


9 posted on 04/06/2007 5:40:32 PM PDT by Shooter 2.5 (NRA - Hunter '08)
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To: Shooter 2.5

Your right Rem and TC make different rifles. But with the EBR market going wild I expect S&W/TC to come up with some cool stuff and Rem now has ‘access’ to Bushmaster.


10 posted on 04/06/2007 5:47:40 PM PDT by Hazcat (Live to party, work to afford it.)
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To: devolve

Ping


11 posted on 04/06/2007 5:48:27 PM PDT by potlatch
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To: neverdem; Joe Brower; Lazamataz; Cobra64; nickcarraway; Fedora; The Mayor; swampfox; SandRat; ...

Curious, how we see valued such a brick-and-mortar firm vs. Google’s IPO which saw the company worth (on paper) as much as $80 BILLION.

AOL wrote off $54 BILLION Q1 2002.

Yahoo! wrote off $54 Million not too long after that.

The online era’s chant was, ‘Information Just Wants To Be Free.’ But it really didn’t.

It is possible that purveyors to those who seek to maintain and manifest the Second Amendment are being undervalued by the ignorant and apathetic — and acquired on the cheap by some whose loyalty is not American Principles—but power and profit. These could include Soros.

Methinks the American Public had better pay closer attention to our ‘smokestack industries.’


12 posted on 04/06/2007 6:16:56 PM PDT by The Spirit Of Allegiance (Public Employees: Honor Your Oaths! Defend the Constitution from Enemies--Foreign and Domestic!)
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To: reefdiver

I got the 870 Marine Magnum. I love it.


13 posted on 04/06/2007 6:33:16 PM PDT by CMS (When injustice becomes law rebellion becomes duty ||||Liberals: hard on fetuses soft on terrorists)
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To: Hazcat

Actually S&W is competing with Remington. As already stated S&W bought out Thompson Center who makes much more than just “blackpowder rifles”. In fact TC just came out with their boltaction ICON rifles when S&W bought them. S&W also bought out another company that makes shotguns, so their getting into that too. BTW they’ve been marketing their own AR15 for a year now, very nice rifle but pricy, I’ll Stick with my RRA.
Still S&W’s main item is handguns which they aggresively compete with Ruger and then the hoard of foreign companies. Hard for most domestic manufacturers to stay profitable when haveing to deal with idiotic regulations, union pay and benefits, litigation, and a bunch of hostile politicians and then compete with the Sigs, Glocks, HK’s and Taurus’s of the world.


14 posted on 04/06/2007 6:54:41 PM PDT by LoneStarLegend78
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To: LoneStarLegend78

Actually I knew all that I just hate to type that much :). I figured that I had given everyone enough info for them to follow.


15 posted on 04/06/2007 7:06:17 PM PDT by Hazcat (Live to party, work to afford it.)
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To: Hazcat
... expect S&W/TC to come up with some cool stuff....

They already have.

Read the Shooting Times Test results here: http://www.shootingtimes.com/longgun_reviews/swmp15_121906/

16 posted on 04/06/2007 7:13:42 PM PDT by Covenantor
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To: reefdiver
I got the 870 special 12 ga. pump 3” mag. Love it

I love my 870 also. I have the 870 Express Super Magnum in Camo Synthetic. Nice turkey gun.
17 posted on 04/06/2007 7:15:41 PM PDT by BigTom85 (Proud Gun Owner and Member of NRA)
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To: Covenantor

Anyone know about remington cartridges....I just picked up two
boxes of 9MM [ for $7 each I might add ].


18 posted on 04/06/2007 7:16:11 PM PDT by Swanks
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To: Covenantor

I like! I might have to go empty out the wallet and pick one of those bad boys up at the gun shop.


19 posted on 04/06/2007 7:16:57 PM PDT by BigTom85 (Proud Gun Owner and Member of NRA)
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To: BigTom85

Good idea. After I pick up an M1 Carbine, I think I’ll save up for an Armalite lower receiver.


20 posted on 04/06/2007 7:24:59 PM PDT by Shooter 2.5 (NRA - Hunter '08)
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