A last-minute bidder has come forward offering to buy Kinetic Group, Vista Outdoor’s ammunition business, which includes Anoka-based Federal.
The unnamed bidder, who had previously made a takeover bid, said he plans to pay more than $2 billion for Kinetic Group. Vista outdoor equipment company Levelist Inc. will become an independent company.
Meanwhile, Vista’s board of directors rejected a latest revised proposal from U.S.-based investment group MNC Capital to buy the entire company for more than $3 billion. MNC Capital and Vista have been conducting due diligence on and off for about 20 months, since shortly after Vista Outdoor announced plans to spin off the two divisions. MNC made three public bids, at $35 a share on February 19, $37.50 on March 25 and $37.50 last week.
“Given the lack of compelling value in MNC’s third proposal, we continue to believe that the ongoing transaction with CSG would deliver significantly greater value for shareholders,” Vista’s board wrote in a letter to MNC.
Vista formally acknowledged the new takeover bid on Monday morning and postponed its extraordinary general meeting of shareholders from June 14 to July 2 to review the new offer.
In previous SEC filings, Vista said it had made various bids with more than 20 companies to acquire all or part of the company.
Vista accepted a takeover bid from CSG in October and would pay the company a $47.75 million penalty if it accepted another offer.
According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the alternative bidder sent a letter to Vista’s board of directors on June 3 amending its earlier proposal. In a June 5 letter, the bidder said it would acquire Kinetic Group for $1.91 billion and split the $47.75 million termination fee with Vista.
After discussing the alternative bidder’s proposal with financial and legal experts, Vista’s board of directors rejected it on June 7. Later that day, the alternative bidder responded with a “no cash, no debt” offer of more than $2 billion, provided that Vista paid a full termination fee to CSG.
Vista’s board of directors said on Monday it still recommended the deal with CSG and was confident it would receive approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
Vista Outdoor shares were up slightly in morning trading Monday, trading around $35.92 per share.
