Joe P.

Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation to Acquire Battenfeld Technologies, Inc. Acquisition Will Provide Broad, Established Platform For Firearm Accessories Business PR Newswire SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Nov. 26, 2014 SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Nov. 26, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (NASDAQ Global Select: SWHC), a leader in firearm manufacturing and design, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Battenfeld Technologies, Inc., an industry-leading provider of hunting and shooting accessories. The acquisition, which is expected to be accretive to Smith & Wesson gross margins, earnings per share, and cash generated in fiscal 2016, is expected to close in mid- to late December. Smith & Wesson Logo The agreement provides for Smith & Wesson to acquire Battenfeld Technologies for $130.5 million in cash, subject to certain adjustments. Based in a 145,000 square foot facility in Columbia, Missouri, Battenfeld Technologies develops and sells shooting, reloading, gunsmithing, and gun cleaning supplies under several popular, premium brands, including Caldwell® Shooting Supplies, Wheeler® Engineering, Tipton® Gun Cleaning Supplies, and Lockdown® Vault Accessories. Battenfeld Technologies maintains a product development team that has an established track record of launching high-quality, innovative products across its brand portfolio. As a result, its products maintain a prominent position with several independent retailers as well as large sporting goods retailers, including Cabela's, Bass Pro Shops, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Gander Mountain. Battenfeld products are also available at internet retailers, including amazon.com and MidwayUSA. Battenfeld Technologies was founded 22 years ago and since 2006 has generated a largely organic compound annual revenue growth rate in excess of 18%, fueled by sales of newly developed products. In addition to this strong organic growth, the company has also expanded by successfully acquiring small, specialty, hunting-related accessories companies, such as BOG-POD® and GoldenRod®. James Debney, Smith & Wesson President and CEO, said, "Battenfeld Technologies provides us with a unique opportunity to acquire a thriving company that fits perfectly within our core firearm business. It also allows us to move more strongly into the hunting vertical as well as establish a strong platform for growth in our existing firearm accessories business, which has been a small but highly profitable part of our company. Most of the growth of Battenfeld Technologies has occurred organically, which is a testament to the robust product development capability that Jim Gianladis, the Chief Executive Officer of Battenfeld Technologies, and his team have established. That capability, combined with Battenfeld Technologies' sophisticated sourcing and distribution infrastructure, should provide a solid framework for organic and inorganic growth as the new accessories division of Smith & Wesson. Our intention is that eventually all existing Smith & Wesson®, M&P®, and Thompson/Center Arms™ accessories will be housed within this new division. As we continue to expand further into the hunting category, we expect that our accessories businesses will benefit from Battenfeld Technologies' sourcing and distribution efficiencies and established expertise in new product development." Jim Gianladis, who joined Battenfeld in 2007, will serve as the President of Battenfeld Technologies and will report directly to Debney. The Battenfeld Technologies management team and workforce, as well as its base of operations, will continue in Columbia, Missouri. Gianladis said, "We are very excited to join the team at Smith & Wesson. At Battenfeld Technologies, we have built a robust hunting and accessories business based upon our premium product quality and innovation. We believe that makes us a perfect fit for Smith & Wesson, a legendary company with an iconic brand, world-class products, and broad markets that span consumer, law enforcement, and international channels. Together, we have the opportunity to further expand our business and achieve a new level of success." The purchase price for Battenfeld Technologies will be paid using existing cash balances and cash from a $100 million draw on Smith & Wesson's existing line of credit, which has been expanded to $125 million as a result of the company's partial exercise of the accordion feature on that line of credit. Battenfeld Technologies is being acquired from Clearview Capital, a private equity firm based in Connecticut. Due to its anticipated timing, the transaction is expected to have nominal impact on Smith & Wesson's operational and financial results for the fiscal 2015 third quarter ending January 31, 2015. Without considering any revenue synergies, Smith & Wesson estimates that the acquisition will provide incremental revenue in its 2016 fiscal year in excess of $55 million and EBITDA margins on the incremental revenue in excess of 27%. The acquisition is also expected to be accretive to Smith & Wesson gross margins, earnings per share, and cash generated in fiscal 2016. Smith & Wesson will provide additional details and an update on the progress of the transaction during its fiscal second quarter earnings conference call, scheduled for December 4, 2014. Details of the conference call follow. Cowen and Company, LLC is acting as exclusive financial advisor and Greenberg Traurig, LLP is acting as legal advisor to Smith & Wesson and its Board of Directors. Robert W. Baird & Co. is acting as exclusive financial advisor and Loeb and Loeb, LLP is acting as legal advisor to Battenfeld Technologies, Inc. and its owner. Conference Call and Webcast The company will host a conference call and webcast on December 4, 2014, to discuss its second quarter fiscal 2015 financial and operational results. Speakers on the conference call will include James Debney, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Jeffrey D. Buchanan, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. The conference call may include forward-looking statements. The conference call and webcast will begin at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (2:00 p.m. Pacific Time). Those interested in listening to the conference call via telephone may call directly at 857-244-7308 and reference conference code 44133134. No RSVP is necessary. The conference call audio webcast can also be accessed live and for replay on the company's website at www.smith-wesson.com, under the Investor Relations section. The company will maintain an audio replay of this conference call on its website for a period of time after the call. No other audio replay will be available.

Received my 10 sleeves today as well. No damage done but poorly packed. They should send you a free sleeve or something.

i ordered 1k rounds of Green Tag yesterday morning...just got an email that it has shipped and will be delivered on Wed 19th. for those who care.

NICS closed on State holiday's http://www.shoreshotpistolrange.com/pdf/NICS.pdf

yeah.. this sounds like too much fun to miss ... IN!

got the info i need from obrams.org .. thanks

i am interested in getting involved in the rimfire matches at OB.. i have an M&P 15/22 and a Ruger mkIII to play with. how many mags would i need for a match? i have four 10 rounders for the m&P but only 2 for the Ruger. would i need a belt, holster and mag holders? .. i may be able to piecemeal some USPSA gear i have.

Beretta 96A1

Thank You to all that served! and especially to my Uncle Ken who served the 10th Armored Division "Fighting Tigers" under Gen. Patton in WWII and is still kicking asses!

http://www.amazon.com/Konus-7120-20x-60x80mm-Spotting-Tripod/dp/B001DX7Q8W i got this one on sale last years Black Thursday sale for $208 shipped. good quality, fine for about 200yds ..but that's about it. like previous poster said, the tripod is skimpy, i went with a Manfrotto tripod for $75 form Best Buy if i remember right. comes with a soft case. and angled view finder, shade sleeve but, this thing is HUGE fyi... TWSS!

I took this course as well. George Jones is a real pro. It's a ton of information and highly recommend it. Thanks to Jim Norman for setting it up.

Sorry.. I can't type.... I think the dealer vig is usually between 5 and 10% over spot. But yes., direct corolation.. Percentage stays the same while spot dictates value.

Ok.. Thanks raz

Yes! .. i have to go set up the 2 way mirror , slide projector and the spooky soundscape

wondering where the scores are hiding from this match .. it's my only gauge of how i measure up against better shooters other than by height!

this is great .. i'm going to blast this outside my house tonight to keep those meddling kids away while i work on my diabetes!

here we go .. BOJ eases unexpectedly .. gold down $32 ..$1166 last .. Vlad said: Anyone buying precious metals as short term money maker needs to really be on the ball and know what they are doing. Also investing a to large portions of one's assets in ANY single thing is probably a bad idea. On the other hand if you don't have a lot of it, this might be a good time agree Gold for me is a hedge .. but volatility like this always gets my attention.

Agree with everything you said.. And articulated better than I ever could.. Lol

LOL .. yea .. he went from Alaska to South America and back again with not much to show for it .. that is a tough racket ..i think he would happily trade his Discovery check for a real "discovery"

don't worry , you'll get a chance again i think .. at much lower prices to boot

so right Dave .. Market Saturation and the boom and bust cycle for this hobby/sport will continue , as with most business cycles..over producing widgets or whatever to take advantage of policy changes or fear mongering runs it's risks. Been a hell of a run for public gun companies sorry, tried posting a RGR chart .. basically traded between $10 and $20 from 1985 to 2010 .. then from $10 to $80+ from 2010 to early 2014 .. now sitting @ $42

for those who follow the business end of the sport: High Inventory still hurting Ruger By Steve Symington | More Articles | Save For Later October 29, 2014 | Comments (0) Sturm, Ruger & Company (NYSE: RGR ) may make accurate firearms, but its third-quarter results missed analysts' targets by a mile. Shares of Ruger fell more than 8% in Wednesday's after-hours trading when it announced that quarterly revenue fell 42.5% year over year to $98.3 million. That translated to a 76.4% plunge in earnings per diluted share to $0.34. Analysts, on average, were looking for earnings of $0.99 per share on sales of $149.1 million. Consequently, Ruger also lowered its dividend -- which varies each quarter to remain at approximately 40% of net income -- to $0.14 per share. Here's what happened CEO Michael Fifer says this is a continuation of last quarter's painful results, and declining demand for Ruger's products only continued to accelerate in Q3. Meanwhile, sell-through from independent distributors to retail also declined 44% year over year. Curiously, Fifer noted that the change in NICS background checks indicates that consumer demand declined only 3% year over year. In addition to that falling demand, however, high inventory levels at retail compounded Ruger's sales declines, which, in turn, caused those retailers to buy fewer firearms than they were selling in an effort to reduce that inventory and generate cash. To make matters worse, this resulted in aggressive price discounting by many of Ruger's competitors. But Ruger chose not to match those discounts -- a move tht it admits "likely resulted in lost market share." What's more, Ruger's results were further hurt by a lack of significant new product introductions, as well as continued limited availability of rimfire ammunition. Ruger specifically thinks the latter issue negatively affected sales of .22 rifles, pistols, and revolvers. And though Ruger did launch its new AR-556 modern sporting rifle last quarter, shipments of that rifle were limited, so it didn't have a meaningful impact on the company's financial results. As it stands, new products have represented only around 17% of all Ruger's firearm sales so far in 2014. Perspective is in order But that could change going forward. Ruger has already incurred capital expenditures of nearly $29 million so far this year, with the majority spent on modernizing manufacturing equipment and tooling fixtures and equipment for new product introductions. As Ruger continues to focus on new product development going forward, it expects total capex investments for the year to approach $40 million. For what it's worth -- and with the exception of Ruger's troubling lost market share -- Fifer's comments largely echo the sentiment of Smith & Wesson (NASDAQ: SWHC ) CEO James Debney in late August. Specifically keeping in mind Smith & Wesson's fiscal Q1 results, which ended on July 31 (and so overlapped Ruger's Q3 by a month), Debney blamed Smith & Wesson's own revenue misfire on "high inventories industrywide resulting from channel replenishment that occurred during an earlier surge in consumer buying." Still, Debney asserted that those high inventory levels would taper off in future quarters as the market returned to a more normalized environment. How long that normalization will take remains to be seen, but you can bet investors will be prodding Ruger management for more color during Thursday's earnings conference call. For now, Ruger said inventories of finished goods during the quarter increased 24,000 units at independent wholesale distributors, and 39,000 units at the company itself. Finally, there was no mention of whether Ruger utilized its existing share repurchase authorization, which the company expanded three months ago from $25 million to $100 million. As I noted earlier this year, however, Fifer has consistently made it clear that Ruger doesn't take such repurchases lightly. Rather, the company closely watches a number of historical price metrics and buys back stock only if it believes it's in the best interests of shareholders. Given their front-row seat to this weak quarter as it unfolded, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if management says during Thursday's call that it chose to leave that repurchase authorization untouched.