Another buyer emerges in bid for Anoka-based Vista Outdoor, further escalating sale price

Last-minute negotiations have borne yet another twist in Vista Outdoor’s quest to split the company into two, this time an offer to buy the Revelyst outdoor brands for $1.125 billion.

Under the deal on the table, Czechoslavak Group (CSG) would again increase its bid for the Kinetic ammunition brands and withdraw its investment offer in Revelyst. CSG would now pay $2.225 billion, up from its initial bid of $1.91 billion from last fall.

The new player for Revelyst is Greenwich, Conn., private equity group Strategic Value Partners.

Together, the divisions would garner $3.35 billion, or $45 a share, under the deal, Anoka-based Vista Outdoor said Monday. That tops the $43 a share bid by Texas-based MNC Capital for the entire company, an offer that the Vista board has rejected.

“The board has worked tirelessly to deliver maximum value to its stockholders, and we are pleased to have reached this agreement with SVP and CSG which helps us achieve that objective,” said Michael Callahan, chairman of Vista’s board said in a news release.

The new deal means a special shareholders meeting called for Wednesday has been adjourned for the eighth time. No new meeting date has been set.

SVP emerged as a late bidder to buy Revelyst, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Its offer was contingent on buying Revelyst as the same time the Kinetic Group was sold to CSG Group.

Anna Glaessgen, an analyst with B. Riley Securities who follows Vista Outdoor, wrote in an investor note Monday that the $1.125 billion price for Revelyst was on the high end of the likely valuation for Revelyst. “Based on our conversations with investors, we’re fairly confident that the shareholder base, by and large, will be in favor of taking the $45 all-in,” Glaessgen wrote.

Vista Outdoor announced in May 2022 that it planned to spin-off its ammunition and outdoor products companies into separate standalone public companies that would be named the Kinetic Group and Revelyst Inc.

“We are strong believers in the Revelyst story and the potential of this business,” said David Greenberg, head of SVP’s North American corporate investment team in a news release.

Those plans changed almost as soon as they were announced as Vista’s board continued to seek strategic alternatives that would deliver the most value to its shareholders.

Shares of Vista Outdoor are trading at $43.75, up 9.9% in early trading Monday.

Vista and CSG’s deal was set to terminate on Oct. 15, the one year anniversary of the original agreement. But Vista and CSG have mutually agreed to move that termination date to Dec. 11.