In news that was expected, Vista Outdoor rejected MNC Capital’s latest offer. Their Board instead recommended progressing with CSG’s latest offer. In one twist though, they have engaged with a private equity firm to possibly buy Revelyst.
Revelyst Sale
Vista Outdoor holds their shooting brands in a company called the Kinetic Group, which is what they have been working to sell to CSG. Their other outdoor brands like Camp Chef are housed in a company called Revelyst, which they had planned to take public after selling the Kinetic Group.
That plan may change as they’ve received interest from a private equity firm to buy Revelyst. They don’t name the firm, but interestingly enough, it’s one that partnered with MNC in their offer to buy Vista Outdoor.
Vista received interest on September 15th, and the transaction could occur in conjunction with the sale of the Kinetic Group to CSG or independent of it. The CSG offer includes $150 million for 7.5% of Revelyst. Even if there is a sale to private equity, shareholders could potentially realize that change of control premium.
MNC Rejection
When Vista announced their latest offer from CSG, from an outsider’s perspective it seemed pretty likely that they would recommend it. The valuation that Vista showed in their announcement implied a $250 million premium over the MNC offer.
Vista reached out to MNC to provide a best and final offer by yesterday, but they didn’t provide an improved offer. This led to the Vista Board to unanimously recommend a “for” vote to shareholders on the CSG transaction. There will be a special meeting of stockholders on September 27th regarding approval of the deal.