- Remington Outdoor Co. Inc., one of the largest US makers of firearms, filed for bankruptcy protection Sunday to carry out a debt-cutting deal with creditors.
- The company listed assets in the range of $500 million to $1 billion and liabilities in the range of $500 million to $1 billion.
- Remington, America's oldest gunmaker, announced the deal in February to reduce its $950 million debt load in a deal that would transfer control of the company to creditors.
Remington Outdoor Co. Inc., one of the largest US makers of firearms, filed for bankruptcy protection Sunday to carry out a debt-cutting deal with creditors amid mounting public pressure for greater gun control.
The company listed assets in the range of $500 million to $1 billion and liabilities in the range of $500 million to $1 billion.
Remington, America's oldest gunmaker, announced the deal in February to reduce its $950 million debt load in a deal that would transfer control of the company to creditors.
The filing comes after a February 14 shooting at a Parkland, Florida, high school that killed 17 and spurred an intense campaign for gun control by activists.
The massacre inspired hundreds of thousands of young Americans to lead huge US anti-gun rallies on Saturday.
In some of the biggest US youth demonstrations in decades, protesters called on lawmakers and President Donald Trump to confront the issue. Voter-registration activists fanned out in the crowds, signing up thousands of the nation's newest voters.
Major US companies and retailers have taken some steps to restrict firearm sales.
Citigroup Inc. said last week that it would require new retail-sector clients to sell firearms only to customers who passed background checks and to bar sales of high-capacity magazines.
Citi also said it was restricting sales for buyers under 21, a move adopted by other large retailers, while Kroger Co.'s superstore chain Fred Meyer said it would stop selling firearms entirely.
Cerberus to lose ownership
Cerberus Capital Management LP, the private-equity firm that controls Remington, will lose ownership in the bankruptcy.
Remington's creditors, which sources told Reuters include Franklin Templeton Investments and JPMorgan Asset Management, will exchange their debt holdings for Remington equity.
The creditors agreed to the debt-cutting deal before the Parkland shooting, and it is unclear whether any have exited. The restructuring support agreement allows creditors to sell their holdings, but the buyer is bound by the deal.
One investor told IFR, a Thomson Reuters news provider, that his firm had contemplated buying the Remington loans that will be exchanged into equity, which were offered at as low as 25 cents on the dollar.
"We bowed out because we were uncomfortable," he said.
After a Remington Bushmaster rifle was used in the Sandy Hook elementary-school shooting in Connecticut in 2012 that killed 20 children and six adults, Cerberus tried unsuccessfully to sell Remington, then known as Freedom Group.
Katie Mesner-Hage, an attorney representing Sandy Hook families in a lawsuit against Remington, said in a prepared statement that she did not expect the gunmaker's bankruptcy to affect their case.
Remington and other gunmakers have suffered from slumping sales in the past year as fears of stricter gun laws have faded.
The chief executive of American Outdoor Brands Corp., the maker of the Smith & Wesson gun used in the Parkland shooting, said on March 1 that some gun retailers reported increased sales after the Florida school shooting.
Remington filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware and Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Gopakumar Warrier)
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