An Alabama bankruptcy judge on Tuesday approved the sale of Remington Outdoor Company's ammunition operation in Lonoke.
Minnesota-based Vista Outdoor Inc. is the successful bidder for bankrupt Remington Outdoor Company's ammo production facility in Lonoke for $81.4 million. Vista Outdoor includes a wide variety of brands including optics and ammunition makers. The deal includes the Lonoke facility along with the Remington brand and trademarks.
Other Remington assets, including its firearms manufacturing, went to other bidders. According to documents filed by Remington prior to the sale hearing, in total the auction will bring in $156.3 million. JJE Capital Holdings, LLC acted as the stalking horse bidder with an initial offer of $65 million.
Judge Clifton Jessup Jr. of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Alabama approved the sale of Remington's primary assets.
In July, Remington, the nation's oldest gun-maker, declared bankruptcy for the second time in two years even with ammunition and firearms sales at record highs. The private company was founded in 1816.
Remington began production at the Lonoke facility in 1969. In 2016, the company employed about 1,200 at its Arkansas plant and invested $12 million in an expansion. It spent $32 million upgrading the plant in 2013.
In court documents, Remington noted since it emerged from bankruptcy in 2018 it had failed to book a single profitable quarter, losing $98.9 million in 2018, $147.8 million in 2019, and $40 million in the first two quarters of 2020. Sales declined every quarter but one over the same period, from $151.3 million for the first quarter of 2018 to $74.6 million for the second quarter of 2020.
Vista Outdoor said in a release earlier this week it will pay for the deal with cash on hand and with its asset-based revolving credit facility. The company expects to close in the third quarter of 2021.
Other successful bidders include Roundhill Group, LLC for Remington's non-Marlin firearms business; Sierra Bullets, LLC for the Barnes ammunition business; Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. for the Marlin Firearms Business; JJE Capital Holdings, LLC for the DPMS, H&R, Stormlake, AAC, and Parker brands; Franklin Armory Holdings, Inc., or its designated assignee for the Bushmaster brand and certain related assets; and Sportsman's Warehouse, Inc. won the the Tapco brand.