What’s Going On with the Remington Sale

The identity of a company extends well beyond its face as a brand, and the sale of that company means more than a simple exchange of its parts. While the legal writing of the contracts that constitute the sale of Remington's properties reads as dryly as it needs to in order to be both thorough and clear, what many are interested is not merely the facts of the exchange, but what it means for the rest of the industry, and ultimately, the country. Is the bankruptcy and sale of such a well known brand a warning sign to all gun owners that the end is coming to America's 2nd Amendment? Or is it a chance to jab as the shooters of yesteryear for not keeping up with the times? For those not well versed in corporate speak, how much is lost in translation? Finally, will any of this really matter?

Remington held ownership over more than just the firearms and ammunition stamped with its name, and those properties are part of the larger sale.

The Layout

Vista Outdoors, the umbrella above brands like Federal, Bushnell, Blazer, and Hoppe's has bid to purchase the Lonoke Arkansas facilities. With Remington being one of two (the other being Winchester) full-line ammunition manufacturers in the United States, and one of ten in the world, the significance of this bid cannot go unnoticed especially in light of the current ammunition shortage. A full-line ammunition manufacture is identified as one that makes all three types of cartridges: rimfire, centerfire, and shot shells, as well as the primers, cartridge cases, bullets, shot, wad columns, and wads according to the 6th Edition of the Ammo Encyclopedia by Michael Bussard. SIG Sauer, Inc. is currently the accepted backup bidder.

Sierra Bullets, L.L.C. followed as the successful bidder for Barnes Bullets. The backup bidder will be Barnes Acquisition LLC.

Sturm, Ruger & Company is the primary bidder, with Long Range Acquisition LLC as the backup for the Marlin Firearms Business. If the purchase goes through, Sturm, Ruger & Company will cover a generous margin of the rimfire market.

JJE Capital Holdings, LLC, a private equity firm with Palmetto State Armory, Lead Star Arms, and multiple forging, machining, and research properties in its portfolio, has bid on the DPMS, H&R, Storm Lake, AAC, and Parker brands.

Franklin Armory Holdings, Inc., landed a successful bid on the Bushmaster property, and Sportsman's Warehouse, Inc., has moved to acquire Tapco.

Roundhill Group, LLC has been named the successful bidder of the non-Marlin Firearms Business, with both Huntsman Holdings and Century Arms as the back up bidders. Though it doesn't mean that the ubiquitous Remington 870 will undergo a name change, the new owners would acquire a gun factory and another for handgun barrels as well as other properties. This bid caught the eye of more than one outlet, especially as more information comes out about just what machining lines will be part of the deal.

The Process isn't over yet

Since we're outsiders looking into an interaction bound to Bankruptcy court, these bids are not yet final. The closing is expected to take place later this week, and then we can look forward to what the new ownership will do with their new properties.

The factors adding up to Remington's bankruptcy often lead to speculation and political conversation regarding the current state of the firearms industry as a whole, especially in an election year, and further exacerbated by the increasing barriers to investor capital that arise through public pressure. Let's be clear, we're not about to make grandiose claims that a single lawsuit drove a brand over 200 years in the making to sell themselves in pieces. What we are listing are a few of the factors that came into play, including the aftermath of Sandy Hook.

Taking into consideration the gun sales of 2020, and noting that Remington had its hands in almost every corner of the market, it's safe to say that the troubles facing the company pre-dated the year that has felt like a decade in and of itself. The first three years of Trump's Presidency were felt across the firearms industry, though it should be noted that both month-to-month and year-to-year total NICS checks of the “Trump Slump” in gun sales still counted higher than the Obama presidency. While the NICS data is typically used as a reference to the number of gun sales, it doesn't account for the types of firearms sold, nor whether the purchasers were first time buyers or repeat offenders, so to speak. With a diversity of brands under it's name, Remington's troubles were not simply accounted by the first years of a Republican Presidency.

The weeks and months after Sandy Hook can sound like distant flashbacks as we're once again facing an ammunition shortage, but that cannot be chalked up to a simple matter of supply-and-demand. More on that later. Still, after a massacre that rocked that dominated the media and spun itself a host of conspiracy theories, finally the national weight of the event hit when it became politically acceptable to make manufacturers financially responsible for the actions of free citizens. The Supreme Court rejected reviewing the case after Remington had appealed to the Nation's Highest, and their attempt to block a lawsuit was ultimately lost. As the families of the killer's victims pursued Remington, the conversation ultimately rested on how the families interpreted the advertisements put forward by one section of one of the largest firearms companies in the nation.

During all this time, Remington and its other brand names were all included in the choice for Cerberus, a private equity as well as hedge fund firm, to divest in Freedom Group specifically because of the ties to Bushmaster. The pressure to isolate themselves from affiliation with such names must be recognized as in contrast with the rising rate of firearms sales not exclusive to 2020. Even as people purchase more, we see moves like this. For some it looks like opportunity, for others, a warning sign.

For more on the State of the Firearms Industry, Censorship, and the Second Amendment:

• Despite challenges, the Second Amendment is Alive and Well.
• Here's what we know about the 2020 Ammunition Shortage.
• RuneNation about the mindset needed to overcome challenges.
• John Lovell talks Censorship and the Second Amendment.

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