Sierra Bullets Bought By Clarus Corporation

Sierra Bullets of Sedalia, Missouri has been acquired by Clarus Corporation. The announcement was made on Tuesday. This makes the second bullet manufacturer to be owned by a publicly traded company with Speer being the other. According to the release below, Clarus paid $79 million for Sierra. Clarus plan to invest in expanding Sierra's marketing efforts, distribution, and product development. All the senior leadership of Sierra will remain in place.

Black Diamond climbing equipment is the other major brand owned by Clarus Corporation. If I am not mistaken, Black Diamond was founded by Yvon Chouinard and spun off from Patagonia.

This is an interesting combination. The only synergies that readily come to mind involve the engineering behind metal coatings and cladding.

From the release (in part):

SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 22, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Clarus Corporation (CLAR) (“Clarus” or the “Company”), a diversified holding company which seeks opportunities to acquire and grow businesses that can generate attractive shareholder returns, has completed the acquisition of Sierra Bullets, L.L.C. (“Sierra”) for $79 million, subject to a post-closing working capital adjustment. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to Clarus’ earnings per share.

Since 1947, Sierra has been dedicated to manufacturing the highest-quality, most accurate bullets in the world. From local and international shooting competitions to sport and hunting, Sierra offers best-in-class accuracy and precision that hunting and sport shooting enthusiasts have come to depend on. This performance is born from a proprietary manufacturing process that enables the achievement of the tightest tolerances in the industry.

Sierra’s products have cultivated a significant consumer following recognized by its iconic “green box” packaging and include globally recognized brands such as Sierra MatchKing, Sierra GameKing, and Sierra BlitzKing...

“The team at Sierra has continued building on a 70-year legacy dedicated to the highest-level of precision in design, world-class manufacturing and quality control,” said Warren B. Kanders, executive chairman of Clarus. “These attributes have cultivated a diverse customer base of enthusiasts and industry OEMs that drive high recurring revenue and strong cash flow, which we expect to maximize through the utilization of our net operating loss carryforwards.”

Clarus expects to leverage its various strategic and financial resources to accelerate Sierra’s growth. This includes investments to enhance marketing and digital capabilities, improve distribution, forge new customer accounts, and develop new products.

Sierra is led by a seasoned senior management team with decades of combined manufacturing and industry expertise that is dedicated to the long-term growth of the brand. All senior management are expected to remain with Sierra under Clarus’ ownership.

Sierra’s President Pat Daly commented: “Our team takes great pride in developing and manufacturing the most precise and accurate bullets in the world. This is supported by our deep institutional knowledge of highly-specialized manufacturing processes that have produced leading products and created a significant competitive advantage. As the only pure-play bullet brand, it was important for us to partner with a team that shares our values and commitment to excellence, and we are excited to join the Clarus family. I look forward to staying on to continue driving our brand growth.”...

Kanders concluded: “We remain committed to seeking to acquire additional companies in industries potentially unrelated to outdoor that satisfy our investment criteria as we found in Sierra. In addition, the minimal leverage incorporated in this transaction and Sierra’s free cash flow dynamics are expected to provide capacity for future acquisitions utilizing our structure.”