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  • Savage Arms sold to ATK



    Savage Arms in Westfield sold to defense giant ATK
    By Jim Kinney | May 13, 2013 | The Republican

    WESTFIELD -- Defense contractor ATK, also known as Alliant Techsystems, announced Monday it has entered into an agreement to acquire Savage Sports Corporation in Westfield For $315 million.

    Savage has 700 employees including 400 at its Westfield plant and headquarters. It calls itself is one of the world's largest manufacturers of hunting rifles and shotguns.

    Amanda Covington , vice president of corporate communications for ATK, didn’t make any predictions for the Westfield plant when questioned via email Monday afternoon.

    “At this time, we have not made any determinations on personnel or ongoing operations,” she wrote. "ATK believes the addition of the Savage brand will strengthen our shooting sports portfolio offerings to retailers, distributors and customers. We look forward to increased synergies that will come from integrating the business into ATK’s Sporting Group.”

    Bill Dermody, director of marketing at Savage, he had no information about how the sale will impact operations and employment in Westfield. The deal doesn’t become official until June.

    But he did say ATK doesn’t manufacture firearms now, despite the fact that its brand portfolio includes standbys like Federal ammunition. ATK’s shooting accessories businesses make backpacks, cartridge bags gun-cleaning kits and other products. Up until now, the company didn’t make guns themselves.

    “They don’t have a firearms factory. There just doesn’t seem to be any redundancy there,” Dermody said. “They are bolting us on to their organization.”

    "The acquisition will complement ATK's growing portfolio of leading consumer brands," said Mark DeYoung, ATK President and CEO, in a written release. "This opportunity will allow us to build upon our offerings with Savage's prominent, respected brands known for accuracy, quality, innovation, value and craftsmanship. Savage's sales distribution channels, new product development, and sophistication in manufacturing will significantly increase our presence with a highly relevant product offering to distributors, retailers and consumers."

    A private company, Savage has grown in each of the last five years. But Dermody said figures will not be released because it is a private company.

    Savage sold 645,000 firearms last year, mostly bolt-action rifles. That is a third of the total market for traditional firearms. Savage’s guns are designed for the recreational market of target-shooters and hunters and are sold through major retailers such as Dick’s Sporting Goods and Cabela’s.

    The Savage Arms Co. was first organized in 1894 by Arthur Savage in Utica, N.Y. In 1920, the company bought Stevens Arms of Chicopee, according to the company website. During World War II, Savage made millions of firearms for the military. After the war, Savage had used its excess capacity to make a number of products, including the world’s first motorized lawnmower.

    But from the 1960s to through the 1980s the company was passed from owner to owner, including a stint as part of Black & Decker. By the time Savage declared bankruptcy in 1988, it was losing $25 million a year.

    Back in February, Coburn retired in February after 25 years as CEO. During his tenure, he led the company back from bankruptcy and made it the largest manufacturer of bolt-action firearms in the country.

    Ronald Coburn, who retired in February as CEO, took over that year and brought Savage out of bankruptcy by cutting costs and focusing on bolt-action rifles.

    In 1995, Coburn and his investors bought Savage and its subsidiaries for $33 million.

    In 1992, Savage developed the SNAIL, a spiral apparatus that traps bullets at shooting ranges. Customers include the military and other firearms manufacturers. Savage Range Systems also sells targets and other equipment for ranges.

    In 2007, Savage bought BowTech, the country’s largest archery-equipment company.

    When Coburn retired, Savage Sports Corp. -- the parent company of Savage Arms, Savage Range Systems and BowTech Archery -- named Ronald P. Johnson to succeed Ronald Coburn as CEO chief executive officer. Johnson had been an executive with ATK's Federal ammunition business.

    ATK, based in Arlington, Va., reported $469 million in profits for the fiscal year ended March 31, That is compared with $495 million for the same period last year.

    Sales in the most recent quarter were down 5 percent to $342 million compared to $360 million in the same time period in 2012. The company blamed the drop in a slowdown in NASA manned spaceflight programs.

    Most of ATK's sales went to the U.S. Government, with the Army representing 29 percent of sales, NASA 10 percent, the Air Force 6 percent, Navy 13 percent and other government agencies. Commercial and international sales total 33 percent of the company’s sales.

    ATK touts itself as the primary manufacturer of small-caliber ammunition for the U.S. military’s individual and smaller crew-served weapons.

    ATK began in 1990 when Honywell spun off its defense business, and the company has grown through acquisition since then.

    Without counting Savage, ATK has 14,000 employees, according to the company’s website. They are in 60 facilities in 21 states and Puerto Rico.

    ATK already has a presence in Massachusetts. The company’s military systems business has the 20,000-square-foot New England Microwave Lab in Hopkinton. Other ATK facilities in the Northeast are the Missile Products General Applied Sciences Laboratory in Ronkonkoma, N.Y., and a business development office at the Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey.

    ATK's Sporting Group is the established leader in sporting and law enforcement ammunition and shooting accessories. ATK's ammunition brands include Federal Premium, CCI, Fusion, Speer, Estate Cartridge and Blazer. ATK's accessories brands include BLACKHAWK!, Alliant Power, RCBS, Champion targets and shooting equipment, Gunslick Pro and Outers gun-care products, and Weaver optics and mounting systems.

    ATK has a marketing relationship with Duck Commander and Buck Commander, the popular hunting brands featured on the television program “Duck Dynasty”.

    "Savage offers customers a unique value proposition that is unmatched by any other firearms manufacturer and will be a tremendous complement to ATK's existing ammunition and shooting accessories portfolio," said Al Kasper, Savage President and Chief Operating Officer, in a written release.


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    Details were added to include comments about the sale's impact on employment at the Westfield plant, and to include more information about ATK.

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  • #2
    I have a Savage bolt action .22... really love it. Reasonably priced, and the rifle is very accurate.

    Let's hope that this transaction doesn't hurt Savage in the long run.

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    • #3
      For a company that sounds like a manufacture rather a retailer, isn't 60 facilities quite a lot, sounds like a rather inefficient business model once you add in management overheads and rental overheads from each facility.

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