Simms Fishing Products Among Brands Tentatively Sold by Vista

Vista Outdoors, the parent company of Simms Fishing Products, announced Friday that it has reached an agreement to sell the “outdoors products segment” (named Revelyst in 2022) of its brand portfolio to the investment firm Strategic Value Partners (SVP) for $1.125 billion. This agreement is contingent upon a shareholder vote to sell Vista’s other segment, the “ammunition and reloading component producing divisions” (renamed the Kinetic Group) to the Czechoslovak Group (CSG), which has been pushed back again to December 11. If the shareholders vote no to selling the Kinetic Group, the Revelyst sale will apparently be voided (although market indicators are trending toward a "Yes" vote). Revelyst is headquartered in Bozeman, Montana at the existing Simms manufacturing facility.

Vista Outdoor operates a broad portfolio of brands in the outdoor sports and recreation market including Simms, Bushnell, CamelBak, Stone Glacier, Camp Chef, Remington Ammunition, Federal Ammunition and many more.

This is a surprising turn to a months-long back-and-forth bidding war between CSG and MNC Capital. Vista’s board had recommended selling the Kinetic Group to CSG and retaining Revelyst, but a large contingent of Vista shareholders had vowed to vote against the move. It was not until this new deal was announced that SVP had publicly entered the conversation.

(The website The Daily Outdoor Retailer has a fantastic article detailing the entire story of the offers, rejections, re-offers, delayed shareholder votes, and counter-offers available here.)

“We are excited to partner with SVP and believe this acquisition is a positive step for Revelyst’s future,” said Revelyst CEO Eric Nyman in a press release. “As I reflect on the last year, I am incredibly appreciative of our management team, our employees and our maker community for getting us here. We couldn’t have done this without everyone’s contribution. I believe the best is yet to come for Revelyst and for our customers, suppliers and retail partners. This partnership with SVP is going to make us a stronger company and afford us more opportunities to innovate and deliver top-tier products to outdoor enthusiasts while enhancing our market leadership in the outdoor recreation industry.”

SVP is “a global investment firm focused on opportunistic credit and private equity opportunities in North America and Europe.” It does not appear to have any special interest in the outdoors industry; rather it seeks “deep value opportunities.”

Vista purchased Simms, a leading manufacturer of fishing waders, outerwear, footwear and technical apparel, in July of 2022. Simms was founded in 1980 and purchased by K.C. Walsh in 1993, who grew it into a hundred-million-dollar company.

In May of 2022, Vista split into the two arms: Revelyst, which houses Simms, Fox Racing, CamelBak, QuietKat, Camp Chef, Stone Glacier, and others; and the Kinetic Group, seemingly to isolate the specific challenges presented by operating ammunitions manufacturers.

It is unclear what if anything the sale means for Simms, which celebrated 30 years of Gore-Tex waders last year, and as of press time Simms had not released a statement.

We will update the story once the shareholder vote has occurred.

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