Remington bankruptcy today

[kselkhunter]

Hopefully Remington comes out of it a healthier company. 
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2018/02/robert-farago/breaking-remington-filing-bankruptcy/

Actually, many of the major firearms companies have had significantly reduced sales the past year or so.

Part of why I prefer to buy new firearms over used when possible.  Would like them all to continue to prosper so we continue to have options.

[Bob33]

Sad, and ironic that a Trump election victory probably pushed their over the edge.

[kselkhunter]

Yeah, most other websites made the political angle a huge part of the reason for drop in gun sales.  I chose to find a website link that didn't include politics in the explanation.  I'm tired of politics.

The interesting part of the arrangement is the private equity firm that held Remington completely loses it to the creditors (mostly JP Morgan & Franklin Templeton).  Debt converted to equity.  So we now wait and see what JP Morgan/etc. does with the company.

[Magnum_Willys]

Maybe Lapua will pick up the pieces and Barnes will then be owned by same company that now owns Berger. 

[Biggerhammer]

It's all in life decisions. Your the common sum of who you associate yourself with. Some can't do simple math. In private life or in business. I have always been a big Remington person. As of lately, I'm a big Remington "Action only" fan.

[follow maggie]

They’re bankrupt mostly because when Cerberus bought them about 10 years ago, they sucked all of the cash out of the company and then saddled it with billions of dollars of debt. Much like Daimler did to Chrysler.

[bearpaw]

Different story yet still reminds me of the Smith and Wesson story, hopefully Remington also ends up a better company again. 

[CP]

It was inevitable, they have been putting out garbage for several years now.  Bad management making poor business decisions and alienating their customers.   

[Gringo31]

Interesting the different spins you hear out there.

This from NBC..

MADISON, N.C. — Remington, the gun maker beset by falling sales and lawsuits tied to the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, has reached a financing deal that would allow it to continue operating as it seeks Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The maker of the Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle used in the Connecticut shooting that left 20 first-graders and six educators dead in 2012, said Monday that the agreement with lenders will reduce its debt by about $700 million and add about $145 million in new capital.

The company was cleared of any wrongdoing in the shooting, but investors repulsed by the massacres distanced themselves from the company's owner, investment firm Cerberus Capital Management. Cerberus acquired the gun maker in 2007, just when gun sales began to skyrocket.

Firearm background checks, a reliable barometer of gun sales, had risen steadily for at least a decade.

[mountainman]

It was inevitable, they have been putting out garbage for several years now.  Bad management making poor business decisions and alienating their customers.   

Couple with recall rollouts every couple years combined with strong competition in the market. Diversifying many direction..recipe for trouble..

[dwils233]

They’re bankrupt mostly because when Cerberus bought them about 10 years ago, they sucked all of the cash out of the company and then saddled it with billions of dollars of debt. Much like Daimler did to Chrysler.

This is why. Sub-par products and a decline in demand, competition, recalls don't help but at the end of the day it was huge debt that they couldn't recover from. My mafia analogy is that the debt was the cement shoes, the rest is just water.

[eastsidemallard74]

Interesting how there is no recovery money for them like the auto manufacturers!!!!!!!!!! But I guess that's because they sell guns, not cars. There was a rumor in Moses that they were going to be building a plant here to build guns. Maybe this is why that rumor died off.

[JimmyHoffa]

It was inevitable, they have been putting out garbage for several years now.  Bad management making poor business decisions and alienating their customers.

Probably part of it.  I know that the Remington stuff from the 70's and 80's was still pretty good.  Then around the early 90's started putting more plastic and fit/finish not as high.  Just kept getting worse.  Last new one I looked at you could see the seem lines in the plastic from the mold and hear clicking noises when you moved it around.

[Knocker of rocks]

They’re bankrupt mostly because when Cerberus bought them about 10 years ago, they sucked all of the cash out of the company and then saddled it with billions of dollars of debt.

I would say the companies failures have more to do with take-overs, debt saddleing, greenmail protection, movement of manufacturing locations, products and a drop in sales following what I would call panic buying during the Obama administration.

[kselkhunter]

Remington's significant revenue reduction eliminated their ability to service their large debt load.  Hopefully the restructure gets them healthy.  But the industry in general is having a down stretch. Smith & Wesson sales are down 36% the past year, Ruger's down 25%.