Vista Outdoor once again postpones vote on ammunition business sale

Vista Outdoor shareholders were set to vote Tuesday on the company’s plan to sell its ammunition business, but once again adjourned without a decision.

The company is weighing whether to sell the Kinetic Group to the Czechoslovak Group (CSG Group) for $2.15 billion. An original May 16 special shareholder meeting was postponed throughout June and July and is now set for Sept. 13. In the meantime, Vista said it will explore all of its options for its outdoor product company, Revelyst, which operates 32 brands including Foresight Sports, Camp Chef, CamelBak, Simms Fishing and Fox.

“We recognize the continuing support received from many of our stockholders for the CSG transaction and the feedback from some of our stockholders with respect to other strategic alternatives,” said Mike Callahan, chairman of Vista Outdoor’s board of directors, in a news release. “We take the views of our stockholders very seriously and believe it is prudent to evaluate all strategic alternatives.”

The Vista board in October selected CSG Group’s offer of $1.91 billion. The bid needed to pass standard regulatory approvals and the approval of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States/

Vista will continue to communicate with CSG about its bid to acquire the Kinetic Group, which includes Federal and the 1,500 employees who work at Federal’s Anoka plant, Remington, Speer, CCI and others. CSG Group raised its bid several times through the process and is now apparently considering an acquisition of Revelyst as well.

Vista will also engage with U.S.-based investment group MNC Capital over its $42 a share offer to acquire all of Vista Outdoor, including the Kinetic Group and Revelyst. MNC Capital made several offers to acquire all of Vista Outdoor in a move that would secure the ammunition business with a U.S.-based company.

Vista will also revisit its initial plan to spin off both the Kinetic Group and Revelyst as independent public companies as it had originally announced in May of 2022. Gates Capital, Vista’s second-largest shareholder, expressed in a letter to the Vista board that it found the original spinoff plan attractive because of its tax-free implications

The move to adjourn the shareholder meeting again may have also been influenced by another institutional shareholder of Vista Outdoor. In an unusual move Monday, GAMCO Asset Management issued a press release and a letter to the Vista Board saying it would vote against the CSG deal.