Rifle Scopes ATK Buys Bushnell!?!

[plong]

! At first-blush I'm not liking where this could be headed...

"US Munitions maker Alliant Techsystems (ATK) has completed the acquisition of gun accessories company Bushnell Group Holdings, ATK announced on 4 November.
According to ATK the USD985 million transaction closed on 1 November and Bushnell will now be integrated into ATK’s Sporting Group. The deal was first announced on 5 September.

The acquisition means the Sporting Group will account for about 45% of total ATK revenue. It is part of ATK’s broader strategy to grow in the hunting and outdoor lifestyle market as it looks to compensate for cuts to defense and government sales.

The Bushnell acquisition is the second sporting goods deal undertaken by ATK in 2013, following the USD315 million purchase of Caliber Company in May."

 

[Lowlight]

Old News,

Ah, maybe it wasn't announced, but many knew this already.

Most bigger companies are getting bought up, nothing new here.

 

[plong]

Sorry... first I'd heard it. Hope this goes better than than some of their other purchases (can you say: "Eagle"?)

 

[royta]

Has it already been mentioned that ATK has also purchased Savage? I am friends with a guy who works for ATK and he told me about it last June.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[BionicSniper]

What does this mean for quality?

 

[redneckbmxer24]

Didn't this happen last year?

 

[Pointman308]

I have noticed that Savages quality has gone down hill a little bit. I am talking about finish. What I looked at on the shelf the other day is far cry from my Model 10 HS Precision I bought six years ago. The bolt handle didn't even looked finished right and the metal was rough everywhere. It was pretty disappointing. I'm gonna do some more looking around. It really saddens me that all of these American companies like Remington and Savage are being bought out by these almost seemingly nefarious entities. I don't mean to sound black helicopter or anything, but it kind of spooks me out. Just Sayin...........

 

[E. Bryant]

It really saddens me that all of these American companies like Remington and Savage are being bought out by these almost seemingly nefarious entities. I don't mean to sound black helicopter or anything, but it kind of spooks me out. Just Sayin...........

If this seems "nefarious", or in any way new, novel, or spooky, then I suspect that you've missed what has been happening in American industry for, oh, the past 30 years or so. The financial sector has gotten the upper hand over the manufacturing sector. As such, any entity involved in the actual production of useful, tangible product has become the plaything of those who are hell-bent on turning anything and everything into a "financial products" and other euphemisms. I guess it is indeed nefarious, but not in the sense that it's limited to the relatively tiny world of commercial small-arms production.

 

[Pointman308]

I see your point, it just gets a little more real in the eyes of the beholder when it impacts an industry that is dear to you. It feels like a power grab. Firearms are the "peoples liberties teeth."

 

[jus_ad_bellum]

I have noticed that Savages quality has gone down hill a little bit. I am talking about finish. What I looked at on the shelf the other day is far cry from my Model 10 HS Precision I bought six years ago. The bolt handle didn't even looked finished right and the metal was rough everywhere. It was pretty disappointing. I'm gonna do some more looking around. It really saddens me that all of these American companies like Remington and Savage are being bought out by these almost seemingly nefarious entities. I don't mean to sound black helicopter or anything, but it kind of spooks me out. Just Sayin...........

ATK is a good, well known American company. The folks that work there are Americans and are hunters, shooters, and sportsman. It's a very squared away company that favors individual freedoms and actually treats their employees pretty well. This is just a move to solidify their position in the market.

Savage hasn't changed any aspect of production AT ALL since the aqusition.

 

[sinister]

Many good, under-valued companies benefit from buyouts/mergers.

Sometimes they don't.

ATK owns both Blackhawk and Eagle Industries. 25 years ago both had xerox copy catalogs and would do custom work for clients and units at the drop of a hat (it's just nylon, and their flexibility was a boon and relief to all the parachute riggers who already had full-time jobs maintaining air items).

Fast-forward to today and neither company seems to have the time to respond to units unless they smell BIG GI contracts. Blackhawk went offshore to Vietnam and Eagle went to the Dom Rep.

ATK knows that with the president declaring the GWOT over and peace at hand (with the layoffs and budget cuts coming) they need to diversify or die.

 

[jus_ad_bellum]

Many good, under-valued companies benefit from buyouts/mergers.

Sometimes they don't.

ATK owns both Blackhawk and Eagle Industries. 25 years ago both had xerox copy catalogs and would do custom work for clients and units at the drop of a hat (it's just nylon, and their flexibility was a boon and relief to all the parachute riggers who already had full-time jobs maintaining air items).

Fast-forward to today and neither company seems to have the time to respond to units unless they smell BIG GI contracts. Blackhawk went offshore to Vietnam and Eagle went to the Dom Rep.

ATK knows that with the president declaring the GWOT over and peace at hand (with the layoffs and budget cuts coming) they need to diversify or die.

Eagle mostly focuses on custom non-catalog offerings at this point. The sew shops Blackhawk uses make very high end backpacking gear and the quality is equal to American made according to independant testing. BH has had it's ups and downs, but since the aquisition they have been climbing back to their original innovation and quality. BH does a lot of agency requests and some of their line reflects that. The diversion line was actually done at the request of an agency for the RNC in MN.

Tactical nylon is a rough business when small companies can offer varied items at decent prices and the startup is quite low. The bigger a company gets, the less flexability they have to do limited runs.

I work for ATK and interact extensively with all brands in my capacity, but would prefer to keep major shop talk offline if anyone has any questions. I work closely with line managers and can say with all honesty that the folks are on the right track. Good people working hard to make improvements to brands and lines. After the recent aquistions, the general feeling is that we all need to make sure we improve the brands coming aboard without hindering what they do well already.

As a side note, the actual government consumption of our products (especially ammuntion) is a drop in the bucket compared to civi consumption.

 

[LibertyOptics]

An interesting acquisition, for sure.

ATK did wonders for Weaver Optics with their "play money" and the Weaver Tactical line sprouted up literally overnight.

However, one issue for Bushnell has been honoring their warranty "as written" and not sloughing off warranty responsibility to the dealer where purchased.....not holding out hope that taking a large corporation and making it even larger will solve the problem.

Note to ATK, you have good products inhouse.....study Vortex Optics customer service.....emulate to the letter....watch your market share grow....otherwise, scratch heads, wonder why the heck our sporting optics segment is underperforming....