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Vista Outdoor Inc., is a publicly traded "designer, manufacturer, and marketer" of outdoor sports and recreation products. The company operates in two segments, Shooting Sports and Outdoor Products. It is a "house of brands" with more than 30 well-recognized labels and subsidiaries that produce a wide range of ammunition, firearms, and outdoor accessories. The company trades under "VSTO" on the New York Stock Exchange.

History[edit]

Alliant Techsystems (ATK), entered the ammunition and outdoor products business in 2001. ATK achieved growth through acquisitions and a surge in demand for ammunition for police, hunting, and other private uses.^[1]

In December of 2014, regulators were informed that Vista Outdoor had signed an agreement for a $350 million secured loan with a term of five years and a $400 million revolving line of credit. Proceeds were partially used to pay down debt.^[1] ATK and Orbital filed a joint proxy statement and prospectus describing the share issuance with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 17th, 2014. The same month, the Department of Justice granted approval to the merger and spinoff.^[2]

On January 27th, 2015, ATK's shareholders approved the issuance of ATK common stock to Orbital Sciences Corporation in order to consummate their merger. About 97 percent of the votes cast, representing 77 percent of the total outstanding shares of ATK common stock as of December 16th, 2014, voted in favor of issuing the shares. Orbital shareholders held a similar vote the same day and also approved the merger. ^[3]

ATK spun-off Vista Outdoor upon closing its merger with Orbital Sciences and became Orbital ATK on February 9th, 2015. Anyone holding ATK common stock at the end of the business day on February 2nd, 2015 received two shares of Vista Outdoor common stock. Eligible shareholders had their brokerage account credited or received a book-entry account statement reflecting their ownership. Vista Outdoor was thus initially 100% owned by ATK shareholders. Vista Outdoor stock traded on a "when-issued" basis from January 29th, 2015 to February 9th, 2015 and began "regular way" trading on the New York Stock Exchange on February 10th, 2015 under the ticker symbol "VSTO." No payment or action of any kind was required of shareholders. This transaction was conducted on a tax-free basis. U.S. shareholders generally did not have to recognize a gain or loss for federal tax purposes.^[3][4][5]

Brands and subsidiaries[edit]

Vista Outdoor's brands and subsidiaries include those listed in detail below as well as: Alliant Powder, Cébé, Champion Targets, BLACKHAWK!, Bollé, Final Approach, Gold Tip Arrows, Hoppe's, Outers, Primos, RCBS, Serengeti, Speer, Uncle Mike's, and Weaver Optics.

Bushnell[edit]

Bushnell specializes in optics and imaging. Its products include binoculars, spotting scopes, telescopes, night vision equipment, GPS devices, laser rangefinders, riflescopes, holographic weapon sights, game cameras, and other high-end optical equipment. It also sells Bollé Performance Eyewear ski goggles and sunglasses and Serengeti Eyewear all-purpose sunglasses. Bushnell was founded in 1948 by David P. Bushnell during his service in the Allied-occupied Japan. In 1999, Bushnell was acquired by private equity firm Wind Point Partners. In 2007, Bushnell was acquired by MidOcean Partners, another private equity firm, which acquired it in a leveraged buyout. In 2008, Bushnell acquired the assets of Simmons Outdoor Corporation from Meade Instruments. ATK announced its acquisition of Bushnell on September 5th, 2013 for $985 million in cash, subject to post-closing adjustments.

CCI[edit]

Cascade Cartridge Inc., usually called CCI Ammunition, is based in Lewiston, Idaho. In its infancy, CCI made centerfire primers for government use. Today, it mainly manufactures rimfire ammunition but also makes centerfire handgun ammunition, primers for reloading and industrial purposes, and shotgun shells. CCI was founded in 1951 by Dick Speer, brother of Speer Bullets founder Vernon Speer. CCI was previously known as the Speer Ammunition Company.

Federal Premium[edit]

Federal Cartridge, usually styled Federal Premium, is located in Anoka, Minnesota. Federal Premium manufactures finished shotshell, centerfire, and rimfire ammunition, as well as powder, primer, and shell casings. Federal Premium's UltraMatch Rimfire ammunition helped American shooters win gold, silver, and bronze medals at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics Games. Later in 1996, Federal was named "Ammunition of the Year" by the Shooting Industry Academy of Excellence.

Savage Arms[edit]

The Savage Arms Company is based in Westfield, Massachusetts, with a division in Canada. The company makes a variety of rimfire and centerfire rifles, as well as marketing the Stevens single-shot rifles and shotguns. Savage is best known for the Model 99 hammerless lever-action rifle, no longer in production, and the very popular .300 Savage cartridge.

Leadership[edit]

Mark W. DeYoung[edit]

Mark W. DeYoung is Vista Outdoor's chairman and CEO. Before heading Vista Outdoor, DeYoung was President and CEO of Alliant Techsystems (ATK) from 2010 to 2015. Under his leadership, ATK completed acquisitions of Savage Arms and Bushnell Corp. In 2015, DeYoung led the transaction that spun-off ATK's sporting goods business to create Vista Outdoor and merged ATK's aerospace and defense businesses with Orbital Sciences forming Orbital ATK. DeYoung previously headed ATK's Armament Systems group, the company's largest business. Under DeYoung this unit expanded into new markets and increased its revenue from $600 million in fiscal year 2003 to $2.1 billion in fiscal year 2010.

DeYoung started his career with Hercules Aerospace in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1985. He held numerous management positions at Hercules in the its solid rocket motor and composite structures businesses. After Hercules was acquired by ATK in 1995, DeYoung continued to advance and held roles in finance, operations, composite structures, human resources, and munitions. DeYoung earned an undergraduate degree in business at Weber State University, in Ogden, Utah. He holds an MBD from Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah where he taught management and finance and was named "Adjunct Professor of the Year." DeYoung is also a member of Orbital ATK's board of directors.

In September of 2014, DeYoung was elected chairman of the board for the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation (CSF). DeYoung assumed his duties as chairman in January 2015. He was previously the CSF's vice chairman. ^[6]

Operations[edit]

Vista Outdoor is headquartered in Utah. Top executives from Vista's 30 brands were transferred to the Utah headquarters. The company applied for and received targeted tax credits from the state government. In its application, Vista Outdoor said it would invest about $10 million in a new facility where about 90 highly-paid executives would work. Those executives would be paid about $125 million over a seven-year period covered by the tax credits. Utah economic development officials expect about $6.7 million in new tax revenue from the project over this period.

Vista Outdoor has about 5,800 employees worldwide, with 4,000 in the United States. The company has manufacturing and support facilities spread over 10 U.S. states, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Canada. It has sales and sourcing operations in Mexico, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia.^[7]

References[edit]