Remington Outdoor Co. has only been in bankruptcy for a month, but creditors are already planning an out. The U.S. firearms and ammunition company will likely go up for sale directly following its bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported. Certain stakeholders, some of whom haven’t been publicly identified, have already started putting out feelers for potential strategic buyers. Rather than hold the collection of 13 brands that includes a 200-year-old rifle maker, ammunition manufacturers, silencer companies and traditional firearms manufacturers, the lenders will be trying to offload at a particularly fraught time. In the two months since a mass shooting at a Florida high school, the American gun business and its allies have faced increased scrutiny, nationwide boycotts and even new new firearms regulations from Congress. Despite the turmoil, gun sales are up, particularly in the long-gun category. While private-equity firms and hedge funds may typically be expected to play vulture over the remains of a bankrupt entity, Remington is more likely to go to a competing gun company that wouldn’t face the same risks to its reputation as a financial firm would. Remington has already piqued the interest of a potential buyer in the industry. “We're watching that closely. I mean, Remington is a great company, it's been around since 1816. They [have] got some great brands and great products,” said Christopher John Killoy, president of Sturm, Ruger & Co., during the company’s last earnings call in February. “We're going to monitor and see if there may be some opportunities down the road.”
