We started off the week with Camp Chef parent, Vista Outdoor, receiving an increased offer from CSG to sell off their Sporting Products division. While that seemed like where their sale was heading, MNC has made another effort to change the course.
CFIUS Approval
A big hurdle standing in the way of Vista Outdoor selling to CSG was approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Vista was confident they’d receive approval, but at the same time there was some public statements from government officials disagreeing with the sale.
Ultimately, CFIUS cleared the proposed acquisition. That’s great news for Vista, who plans to complete the transaction this year.
We are very pleased that CFIUS has carefully vetted the Transaction and, as we expected, determined that there are no unresolved national security concerns.
The CFIUS process involved a thorough review and investigation of the Transaction by numerous U.S. Government departments and agencies with a range of national security and other mandates. We believe the end result supports our view that CSG—which has deep expertise in supply chain excellence and ammunition manufacturing and strong support for NATO and allied nations—will be an excellent owner of The Kinetic Group. CSG is fully committed to supporting our American workforce, American hunters and domestic and allied military and law enforcement partners.
Michael Callahan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vista Outdoor
Another MNC Capital Offer
MNC Capital has remained persistent in trying to acquire all of Vista Outdoor. They’ve made quite a few offers, all of which have been rejected on the basis of not properly valuing Revelyst and not having cash ready for the transaction. As public words have been heating up between Vista and MNC, the latest rejection included a slide deck.
MNC also blocked an offer from another investment firm. The two firms previously had tried to make an acquisition of part of Vista together.
MNC is having one more go at it and has upped their offer. Their latest offer is for approximately $3.2 billion.
Given MNC’s belief that its acquisition of Vista is in the best interests of shareholders, employees and national security, MNC decided to make one final effort for such acquisition by increasing its June 6, 2024 proposal from $39.50 per share all cash to $42.00 per share all cash. MNC said that it cannot see any possible basis or reason to further raise it.
MNC Capital Press Release
MNC Capital also including the following in the press release to address concerns about their funding for the transaction.
MNC’s revised proposal is all cash, has no regulatory issues and is not subject to any financing conditions. MNC holds secured debt and equity commitments more than sufficient to close the transaction and stands ready to provide those to Vista.
MNC Capital Press Release
It’s worth noting that while MNC says they have secured debt financing, Vista has previously stated that the debt was contingent on diligence. If true, that could still present a snag in their offer because it presents risk to the deal.