AAC to be a publicly traded company

[wragarand]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1255990 ... TWhatsNews


After bad bets on cars and home loans, Cerberus Capital Management is turning to guns and bullets.

The private-equity firm is in advanced preparations for an initial public offering of Freedom Group Inc., said people familiar with the situation, hoping to sell shares in a little-known company it has built into a dominant player in the red-hot rifle-and-ammunition business.

Over a three-year span, Cerberus -- while under the spotlight for ill-fated acquisitions of auto maker Chrysler LLC and lender GMAC LLC -- has acquired at least seven U.S. gun-and-ammunition makers.

Those companies have been consolidated into a Madison, N.C.-based company called Freedom Group Inc. It is on track to generate about $900 million in sales this year, according to a person familiar with the results. That makes Freedom one of the world's largest manufacturers of firearms and ammunition.

A spokesman for Cerberus declined to comment.

While U.S. retail sales remain sluggish, rifles and ammunition are flying off store shelves. A number of factors are driving increased demand, including the political concerns of gun owners. Since the election of President Barack Obama, demand for firearms has spiked amid concerns the administration will increase restrictions on firearms ownership and levy additional taxes.

Also, the U.S. military, fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has increased its weapons purchases, and government contracts present a large opportunity for Freedom Group.

Freedom Group has been a major beneficiary of the boom. Background checks conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a key measure of firearms sales, increased by 20% for the first nine months of 2009 from the same period the year before, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

Cerberus will try to take Freedom Group public amid a flurry of private-equity-backed companies hoping to exploit an improved IPO market. New York-based Cerberus itself brought Talecris Biotherapeutics Holdings Corp., a producer of blood-plasma medicines, to market earlier this month, a deal that has generated a net gain of $1.8 billion.

But over the past two weeks, several buyout-backed IPOs have sputtered, raising concerns over whether demand will support the flood of supply.


A successful offering of Freedom Group would arrive at a welcome time for Cerberus. The firm, which manages about $24 billion in assets, has taken losses on its investments in Chrysler and GMAC. Those losses in part caused investors to withdraw $4.77 billion from the firm's hedge funds.

The origins of Freedom Group date to April 2006, with Cerberus's acquisition of Bushmaster Firearms. A year later, it paid $118 million for Remington Arms Co., the country's largest and oldest maker of rifles. Since then, Cerberus and its affiliates have acquired Marlin Firearms, a maker of lever-action rifles; Cobb Manufacturing; Dakota Arms LLC and DPMS Panther Arms, a large manufacturer of AR-15 rifles. Its acquisition binge shows no signs of slowing. Earlier this month, Remington purchased Advanced Armament Corp., a Norcross, Ga., maker of pistol silencers.

Cerberus's thesis was to consolidate a fragmented industry it saw as undermanaged. Earlier this year it named Ted Torbeck, a 20-year veteran of General Electric Co., as Freedom's chief executive. Befitting the low profile maintained by Cerberus and its founder, Steven Feinberg, the company lacks a Web site. While each of its brands has a Web site, none mentions Freedom Group. Freedom is expected to enhance its corporate identity in the coming months, according to people familiar with the company.

Helping oversee the investment for Cerberus is George Kollitides, who like his boss Mr. Feinberg is an avid shooter and hunter. Mr. Kollitides, who has run unsuccessfully for a National Rifle Association board seat, is a member of the upscale hunting club Mashomack Preserve Club in Pine Plains, N.Y. Mr. Feinberg, an ardent deer hunter, favors a Remington Model 700 and owns the rifle in a variety of calibers.

[Smalldog]

They must think that there won't be a firearms ban....

Maybe they know something that I don't know, I hope they are right.

Anyhow, what is the ticker symbol?

[Diomed]

Helping oversee the investment for Cerberus is George Kollitides, who like his boss Mr. Feinberg is an avid shooter and hunter. Mr. Kollitides, who has run unsuccessfully for a National Rifle Association board seat, is a member of the upscale hunting club Mashomack Preserve Club in Pine Plains, N.Y. Mr. Feinberg, an ardent deer hunter, favors a Remington Model 700 and owns the rifle in a variety of calibers.

So it's owned and operated by Fudds? How reassuring.

[ArevaloSOCOM]

Helping oversee the investment for Cerberus is George Kollitides, who like his boss Mr. Feinberg is an avid shooter and hunter. Mr. Kollitides, who has run unsuccessfully for a National Rifle Association board seat, is a member of the upscale hunting club Mashomack Preserve Club in Pine Plains, N.Y. Mr. Feinberg, an ardent deer hunter, favors a Remington Model 700 and owns the rifle in a variety of calibers.

So it's owned and operated by Fudds? How reassuring.

+1

[700PSS]

Helping oversee the investment for Cerberus is George Kollitides, who like his boss Mr. Feinberg is an avid shooter and hunter. Mr. Kollitides, who has run unsuccessfully for a National Rifle Association board seat, is a member of the upscale hunting club Mashomack Preserve Club in Pine Plains, N.Y. Mr. Feinberg, an ardent deer hunter, favors a Remington Model 700 and owns the rifle in a variety of calibers.

So it's owned and operated by Fudds? How reassuring.

Maybe not. If the Fudds at the NRA board won't let him have a seat, he may be more "black rifle" friendly, like us.

[Blaubart]

Anyhow, what is the ticker symbol?

"AAC" is already taken by Ableauctions.com Inc.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=AAC

It seems "HAIR" is still available.

[aquajon]

It seems a little late to the game. Would have been much better to do an IPO about a year ago. Maybe around November 4th.

Good news is the infusion of new capitol will help AAC and the other companies re-tool and invest in things that will help with future growth like machines, marketing, staff, etc.

[Smalldog]

Blau,

4 and 5 letter ticker symbols can be bad.

They tend to be the low end penny stocks.

[yellowfin]

They must think that there won't be a firearms ban....

Maybe they know something that I don't know, I hope they are right.

Anyhow, what is the ticker symbol?

With that much money, they may be big enough to be a big angry lion with a big enough roar and sharp enough teeth to scare it away or even attack it and do life ending damage to it. It would be nice to not only see the anti gun movement delayed or stymied, but actually savagely mauled and ripped to shreds.

[Diomed]

Maybe not. If the Fudds at the NRA board won't let him have a seat, he may be more "black rifle" friendly, like us.

It wasn't the board that kept him out, it was the voting membership. I suspect they were not impressed with his attempt to buy the seat (his campaign consisted of ads in American Rifleman, nothing else).

With that much money, they may be big enough to be a big angry lion with a big enough roar and sharp enough teeth to scare it away or even attack it and do life ending damage to it. It would be nice to not only see the anti gun movement delayed or stymied, but actually savagely mauled and ripped to shreds.

Considering that the company is currently knee-deep in trying to corner the market on government arms contracts, and they have a history of kowtowing to said government (Chrysler bailout), I think your hope is misplaced.

I do hope I'm wrong.

[700PSS]

Maybe not. If the Fudds at the NRA board won't let him have a seat, he may be more "black rifle" friendly, like us.

It wasn't the board that kept him out, it was the voting membership. I suspect they were not impressed with his attempt to buy the seat (his campaign consisted of ads in American Rifleman, nothing else).

I figured the board and overall leadership could influence circumstances so that he wouldn't get in, despite overall rank and file opinions.

[BWT]

Helping oversee the investment for Cerberus is George Kollitides, who like his boss Mr. Feinberg is an avid shooter and hunter. Mr. Kollitides, who has run unsuccessfully for a National Rifle Association board seat, is a member of the upscale hunting club Mashomack Preserve Club in Pine Plains, N.Y. Mr. Feinberg, an ardent deer hunter, favors a Remington Model 700 and owns the rifle in a variety of calibers.

So it's owned and operated by Fudds? How reassuring.

That coupled with once companies go public, they no longer have a voice or have very little in what the Company wants, typically.

So they were bought out, Okay, they could've maintained some control, through seriously binding contacts.

Now they're accountable to share holders?

This is going to be interesting.

I hope I'm completely wrong. But I'd be willing to bet they'll focus on Military Contracts primarily from here on out and the civilian secondary, they need fixed income to get people to buy their stock.

Again, hope I'm completely wrong.

Hope he's not the next Bill Ruger.

[Sigproshooter]

I think I understand why Kevin sold out,

but I think it was a mistake.

A mistake that will hurt AAC in the future. I hope not, they are a cutting edge company today, but I believe this aquisition will ruin the company in time.

[Armorer-at-Law]

Anyhow, what is the ticker symbol?

I have no inside information on this subject, but I would expect a symbol that reflected the name "Freedom Group."

[johndoe3]

They should avoid, "Freedom America Group".

Also, FUD as a symbol is take by UBS AG of New Jersey.

It appears that GUN as a symbol is available and would be a good choice.

[Diomed]

It appears that GUN as a symbol is available and would be a good choice.

Now if it was that I'd buy a hundred shares just for shits 'n' giggles.

[3]

I am totally going to buy one share so I can tell them how to run "my" company.

[renegade]

Freedom is to be public, not AAC.

It is only owned by Fudds if EBR owners choose to not buy stock in it.

Blau,

4 and 5 letter ticker symbols can be bad.

They tend to be the low end penny stocks.

?

Like Oracle (ORCL), Microsoft (MSFT), Cisco (CSCO)?

[diablito]

I am totally going to buy one share so I can tell them how to run "my" company.

spoken like a true wall street hog... (not calling you a hog particularly... simply your quote... which will happen if this goes public)

[renegade]

I am totally going to buy one share so I can tell them how to run "my" company.

Evelyn Davis Lives.

[Diomed]

Freedom is to be public, not AAC.

I've remained intentionally ignorant of this (until now I suppose), but doesn't Freedom own Remington, which owns AAC? How is AAC not ultimately owned by Freedom?

[Armorer-at-Law]

Diomed, I think his comment was in response to some one suggesting that there would be shares of AAC issued (with a cool looking stock certificate). The shares would (presumably) be for Freedom Group, which in turn owns the other companies.

[renegade]

I was responding to the idea there would be an "AAC" ticker symbol.

[yellowfin]

Is QYT available?

[JustAnotherName]

so when can we start trading?