(Adds background information on advisors, paragraphs 6, 8, 10-12)
By Gursimran Mehar and Abigail Summerville
Sept 7 (Reuters) – Investment firm MNC Capital said on Saturday it has raised its cash offer for Vista Outdoor to $43 a share from $42 a share.
The offer values Vista at $2.51 billion, a 12.30 percent premium to Vista’s last closing price of $38.29 on Friday, according to Reuters calculations and LSEG data.
The firm said it sent a letter to Vista on Friday stating that “MNC is now prepared to offer an increased cash purchase price of $43.00 per share for Vista, despite significant market headwinds to consumer spending and weakness in Vista’s recent quarterly results.”
Vista previously rejected the company’s $3.2 billion, or $42 per share, takeover offer, saying it undervalued Vista’s sports equipment unit, Revelyst.
Prague-based defense firm Czechoslovak Group (CSG) was considering acquiring Revelyst in addition to its current $2.15 billion bid for Vista’s munitions business, Kinetic Group.
The bidding war has been ongoing since the beginning of the year, with Vista rejecting multiple MNC offers and supporting CSG’s bid for Kinetic, raising national security concerns despite it being granted regulatory clearance in the US.
Proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis recommended that Vista shareholders vote in favor of the proposed merger of the company’s munitions unit with CSG, while Institutional Shareholder Services recommended against it.
Vista launched a strategic review and postponed the special meeting at which shareholders were expected to vote on the CSG deal from July 30 to Sept. 13, after several previous postponements.
The latest development adds to a months-long saga for the parent company of Federal Ammunition and Remington Ammunition amid rising demand for military supplies since the escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in 2022.
MNC is partnering with an unnamed private equity firm that would own the Revelyst business.
MNC has given Vista until Monday to inform the CSG side whether it intends to sign a deal with MNC. It will withdraw its revised offer if the deadline is not met.
It also reiterated that it has committed its funding, which is about half in equity and half in debt, a source familiar with the matter said. (Reporting by Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru and Abigail Summerville in New York; Editing by Diane Craft, Franklin Paul and David Gregorio)
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