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April 17th, 2010
 Want to own a piece of Remington? And throw in Bushmaster, Marlin, DPMS, H&R and EOTAC for good measure? Well you may have your chance later this year. The Freedom Group, a holding company owned by Cerberus Capital Management, is planning to “go public”. Last fall, the Freedom Group filed a preliminary S-1 prospectus with the SEC. This launched the process of regulatory approvals needed for a Freedom Group public offering. Three weeks ago, the Freedom Group filed an amended S-1 in preparation for an IPO in the second half of 2010.
We’ve all been watching the Freedom Group gobble up one firearms-maker after another over the past few years, building the colossus of the gun industry. (See Acquisition Timeline.) Now the Freedom Group claims to be “the largest manufacturer of commercial firearms and ammunition” in the world. The Freedom Group conglomerate includes more than a dozen leading brands: Advanced Armament, Barnes Bullets, Bushmaster Firearms, Dakota Arms (including Miller Arms and Nesika), DPMS/Panther Arms, EOTAC, INTC, Marlin (including H&R, New England Firearms and L.C. Smith), and Remington Arms. With its series of acquisitions (most recently Advanced Armament and Barnes), the Freedom Group has become a dominant player in the Shooting Sports and Security Industries. In its SEC Filings, the Freedom group declared $54.5 million in net income on $848.7 million in net sales.
When will the Freedom Group launch its IPO and how much will shares cost? That information has not yet been revealed, but documents filed so far definitely point to a public offering sometime this year. Will buying shares in the Freedom Group prove a good investment? Well if you had bought gun company stocks immediately after the November 2008 election you could have tripled your money. However, some experts say Cerberus’ decision to take the Freedom Group public indicates that the “blush is off the rose” and the gun industry may be facing lean times ahead, with reduced profit potential and slower growth. For cynics, the IPO announcement confirms that Cerberus plans to “take the money and run” — disposing of the Freedom Group before its profitability declines.
CLICK HERE to download Freedom Group S-1 SEC Filing (3rd Amend.)
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December 18th, 2009
What may be the very first production, civilian Bushmaster Adaptive Combat Rifle (ACR) was presented to Florida shooter J. James, who was the winner of an Advanced Armament Corp. (AAC) silent auction for the rifle (with AAC silencer). AAC was recently acquired by Remington Arms Co. as a Cerberus Freedom group company, along with Bushmaster. That’s how AAC got its hands on the first civilian ACR. The upper receiver is stamped S/N GR00100 and “MODEL – BACR”. Interestingly, the rifle is also stamped “CALIBER – MULTI”. Everybody has been clamoring for photos of the actual production version of the ACR. Well, here they are.
James had the weapon professionally photographed, and posted the images on Photobucket.com and AR15.com.
Links to other photos:
Left Side | Right Side | Grip | Stocks | Gas Block | Lower with Fixed Stock | Lower and Fire Control Group | Barrel with Piston Kit
The new ACR features a 16″ barrel with m4 profile. A 4th Generation rail system offers removable Picatinny rails. James’ gun came with two (2) stocks, both the new-style, spring-lock folder and the fixed stock. The charging handle is ambi-dextrous and can be flipped left or right, as well as up and down. James reports that the ACR exhibits good fit and function. He says the trigger is “100% better than the SCAR” and is very crisp.
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October 20th, 2009
If you had purchased Ruger (RGR) or Smith & Wesson (SWHC) stock after the November election, you would have seen your investment grow almost three-fold. Ruger stock now trades at over $13.00 after hitting $4.52 last fall. If Remington, Bushmaster, Marlin and other Freedom Group companies “went public”, could they ride the coat-tails of Ruger and S&W, and succeed collectively as a publicly traded stock? Cerberus, a private holding company that controls the Freedom Group, apparently thinks so.
Cerberus Plans IPO for Remington and Freedom Group
A surge in gun sales has pushed the stock prices of major firearms manufacturers upwards. Will that trend continue? We can’t say. However, the money men at Cerberus Capital Management, which owns Remington, Bushmaster, Marlin, and other Freedom Group companies, have decided that the time is ripe to “go public” and start selling stock. According to a 10/19 report in the Wall Street Journal Blog, Cerberus plans an initial public offering (IPO) for its Freedom Group companies. The Freedom Group is comprised of Advanced Armament Corp., Bushmaster, Dakota Arms, DPMS, Eotac, H&R, L.C. Smith, NEF, Parker Gun, Remington Arms Company. Advanced Armament Corp. (AAC) is the latest addition to the Freedom Group collection, having been acquired just this month and placed under the Remington Military Products Division.
In its report on the pending Freedom Group IPO, the Wall Street Journal Blog cited AccurateShooter.com. When Cerberus acquired riflemaker DPMS in 2007, we wrote: “One positive aspect to Cerberus’ involvement in the gun industry is that the huge political clout Cerberus commands as the ‘rescuer’ of Chrysler Corp. should undermine efforts to ban AR-platform rifles. Cerberus is big enough to make waves in Washington. Money talks in politics and Cerberus has lots of it.”
Is the timing right for a gun-company IPO? The stock-market continues to move upward, and gun and ammunition sales remain very strong. On the other hand, the panic buying of black rifles has tapered off and AR-platform gun prices are now dropping back to “pre-panic” levels. Morever, at the end of each calendar year there are usually major stock sell-offs. That could drive down prices of Ruger and Smith & Wesson, which could dampen enthusiasm for a Freedom Group IPO. On the other hand Remington is an historic brand with a strong customer base, and Remington/Bushmaster are poised to take an increasing share of lucrative military contracts. With its new ACR (Adaptive Combat Rifle), Remington could well win the contract for the AR15’s replacement. And, even if the US military sticks with Stoner’s 50-year-old AR design, Bushmaster can fill that need, though it has strong competition from Colt and FN Herstal.
A cynical observer might say that Cerberus is simply looking to grab easy profits by “flipping” arms companies it acquired at fire-sale prices. Given the huge run-up in Ruger and S&W stock prices over the past 12 months, Cerberus may figure that investors will be hungry for Freedom Group shares. Right now may be the best time to take the Freedom Group public while gunmakers are still considered a “hot property” on Wall Street. In six months that could change.
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October 18th, 2009
This past week, Remington held a new products seminar in Kerrville, TX. While Remington tried to impose a “news embargo” through November 15, details leaked out about many of Remington’s new guns.
The big news is the planned release of a civilian, semi-auto version of the Adaptive Combat Rifle (ACR). The Guns and Hunting Blog “spilled the beans”, revealing that Remington plans to sell a semi-auto ACR in the civilian market, starting in the first half of 2010. Based on a Magpul prototype, the ACR has been under development for two years, as a collaboration between Bushmaster and Remington. Price for the civilian ACR is expected to be under $2000, considerably less than the FN SCAR, a similar weapon now being tested by the U.S. Military.
The civilian version of the modular ACR will likely sport a 16.5″, 1:7″ twist barrel standard. Multiple barrel lengths can be fitted (see diagram above), and barrels can be changed without tools. Remarkably the entire gun can be field-stripped down to six major components in under 90 seconds. The ACR features integral rails on top of the receiver and on the forearm. The buttstock adjusts for length and also folds back using a hinge at the rear of the receiver. The charging handle is non-reciprocating. Weight with a 14.5″ barrel (no magazine) is 7 pounds.
Adam Heggenstaller of Guns and Hunting reports: “The consumer version will be offered with a 16.5-inch barrel, but Bushmaster will also be making barrels with lengths of 10.5, 14.5 and 18 inches. The first version of the ACR will be chambered in 5.56×45 mm, of course, but since a tool-less disassembly allows you to change bolt heads, barrels and magazines, the ACR can be user-configured to run with other cartridges as well. Ongoing development will focus on the 6.8 mm Rem. SPC, 7.62×39 mm, a yet-to-be-disclosed 6.5 mm round and the .30 Rem AR.”
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