US ammunitions battle intensifies as MNC raises bid for Vista Outdoor

Investment firm MNC Capital has raised its offer for Vista Outdoor to about $3.2bn, in the latest twist in the takeover battle for the US maker of ammunition and outdoor products.

Dallas-based MNC said on Wednesday it had offered $42 a share, up from a previous offer of $39.50 for Vista. Shares in Vista closed at $33.78 on Tuesday evening.

The higher bid came just hours after privately held Czechoslovak Group (CSG) cleared the final regulatory hurdle in its bid to acquire Vista’s ammunition business Kinetic for $2bn. Vista said late on Tuesday that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (Cfius) had approved CSG’s bid for Kinetic, which owns the Remington ammunition brand.

The offer from CSG has been recommended to shareholders by Vista’s board despite Republican warnings that the takeover represents a national security risk. Opponents of the deal, who include former secretary of state Mike Pompeo and Senator JD Vance, had urged the Treasury department to block the sale through Cfius.

CSG is a leading supplier of munitions and military equipment to Ukraine and other countries. The company has recently been playing a critical role in a Czech government initiative to send more shells to Kyiv.

Opponents, however, have linked CSG to alleged industrial espionage and ties with the Kremlin, which the Czech company rejects. Critics have also pointed to CSG’s potential dominance of domestic small-arms ammunition production at a time of a global shortage, sparked by the war in Ukraine.

CSG has said products manufactured in the US would only be sold locally.

MNC, which has presented its proposal as an “American alternative”, said on Wednesday that its revised offer was “all cash, has no regulatory issues and is not subject to any financing conditions”.

It said it had decided to “make one final effort” to acquire Vista, given its belief that a purchase was in the “best interests of shareholders, employees and national security”.

The investment firm earlier in June raised its offer for all of Vista to $39.50 a share after its previous bid at $37.50 had been rejected. Vista said at the time that the offer undervalued the company and its outdoor business Revelyst.

Vista shareholders are due to vote on July 2 on CSG’s offer for Kinetic.

Vista was not immediately available for comment on MNC’s bid.