Vern Evans
At the end of a tumultuous 2.5-year bidding and approval process, a collection of five iconic ammo brands were sold to the Prague-based Czechoslovak Group (CSG) in November. Under the umbrella of The Kinetic Group the ammo brands of Federal, Remington, Hevi Shot, Speer, and CCI now belong to a Czech holding company that’s best known for dealing arms in the international military market. CSG acquired the Kinetic Group for $2.225 billion.
The Kinetic Group ammo brands were previously under Vista Outdoor, a publicly traded company which owned a variety of popular outdoor companies including Bushnell, Primos, Simms, Stone Glacier, and others. Years ago, Vista leadership decided to split the company, separating the ammo brands (which became The Kinetic Group) from the outdoors brands. According to Vista leadership, the split was necessary because a single holding company with all those brands would not be able to achieve the stock prices investors expected. This was mainly because ammunition, which is a commodity-based business, operates under a different model than lifestyle-based companies. On top of that, the ammo market is notoriously volatile, which can make for tough sledding on a publicly traded company where investors want to see stable and predictable growth curves. Plus, some investors do not want to invest in ammunition companies.
Now that at least part of that strategic split has come to fruition, Kinetic Group CEO and chairman Jason Vanderbrink says that under private CSG ownership his ammo brands will be able to grow and innovate like never before. Rather than worrying about short-term returns, The Kinetic Group can use investment from their holding company for long-term planning and growth, he says. This should mean more ammo, and better ammo, in the consumer market. It’s notable that CSG purchased a 70 percent stake of Fiocchi in 2022.
Throughout the acquisition process several prominent U.S. politicians raised concerns over the prospect of large American ammo companies falling under foreign CSG ownership. (You can read about CSG owner Michal Strnad and the genesis of the company in this 2019 Forbes profile). In January, Senator JD Vance wrote a letter to the Chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (an interagency committee that reviews certain foreign transactions and their potential effect on national security) urging a full security review of the transaction.
“I write to you … to express my serious concern about the sale of Vista Outdoor’s Sporting Products business to Czechoslovak Group (CSG), a business with a long record of wrongdoing and well-documented connections to American adversaries,” Vance wrote. “The transaction poses apparent risks to our national security.”
In June, Vista announced the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) had investigated and cleared the sale.
“The CFIUS process involved a thorough review and investigation of the transaction by numerous U.S. Government departments and agencies with a range of national security and other mandates,” Michael Callahan, chairman of the Vista Outdoor Board of Directors, said in the statement. “We believe the end result supports our view that CSG — which has deep expertise in supply chain excellence and ammunition manufacturing and strong support for NATO and allied nations — will be an excellent owner of The Kinetic Group. CSG is fully committed to supporting our American workforce, American hunters and domestic and allied military and law enforcement partners.”
The Kinetic Group has nearly 4,000 U.S.-based employees, many of whom work in longstanding manufacturing plants, like Remington’s facility in Lonoke, Arkansas, and Federal’s factory in Anoka, Minnesota. It generated $1.5 billion in revenue in 2024 with $416 million EBITDA, according to a CSG press release.
Outdoor Life sat down with Vanderbrink to get an understanding of how the sale played out and how it might impact the civilian ammo market here in the U.S.
Outdoor Life: The companies within The Kinetic Group have these big, historic ammo manufacturing plants. Will any of those manufacturing jobs be moving overseas?
Jason Vanderbrink: No. It will be quite the opposite. We’re going to invest in our [U.S.] facilities to grow the business. It’s all about growth, growth, growth. It’s not about taking anything from America and moving it. CSG bought The Kinetic Group to get access to the largest market in the world and they’re not going to upset that apple cart.
OL: Explain that a little more. You’re talking about the American ammo market?
JV: Yes, American ammo. The commercial market and U.S. military — it’s the biggest ammo market in the world. And to get into it is a struggle if you’re not into it already. Sometimes it’s easier just to buy the leader, and that’s what they did. It gets them exactly what they want: established, best-known brands.
OL: Through this long sale process, there were some prominent politicians who were concerned about these American ammo brands being owned by a foreign holding company. What can you tell American consumers about the federal approval process of the sale to reassure them that ammo made here won’t be used by foreign groups that go against American interests?
JV: First and foremost we’re never going to jeopardize the national security of the United States.
So we had to get CFIUS approval, which as an American citizen, I have a tremendous amount of respect for the process that they go through to ensure national security is never jeopardized. People can take comfort in the fact that the process worked. [CSG] was thoroughly vetted. So the consumers who were concerned, I’m telling you, it’s going to be seamless. We’re still going to be made in America. We’re run by Americans. The same exact management team that ran us two weeks ago will be here running this [going forward]. Four of the five board of directors are U.S. citizens. It’s a U.S. company with manufacturing places in the United States, with a foreign owner — just like Glock, Sig, Colt, Beretta. It’s no different than what we’re seeing in the firearms manufacturing space.
OL: So how do you know that the ammo you’re making won’t be somehow filtered into a foreign military that conflicts with American interests?
JV: All of our shipments are screened and approved by the U.S. government. So end-user screening is a tremendous process, and we know where the ammo ends up. I mean it’s not fair for some people to make those statements if they knew how rigorous the process is and everything is approved by the U.S. government.
OL: So the simple way of putting it is that your ammo is made here and before it goes anywhere, shipments have to be approved by the U.S. government?
JV: Yes, that’s the simple way to look at it. There’s got to be lots of licenses.
OL: Did you have any of your own personal concerns about these brands being sold to CSG?
JV: When you’re a publicly traded company and you essentially put yourself out for sale — and that’s what we did when we decided to split Vista up — we knew there was going to be interest in The Kinetic Group. There are not many opportunities that come around to acquire the leader of anything, let alone a leader with this many iconic brands under one umbrella.
So the concern was, let’s understand that you’re a public company and you need to give value to your shareholders, but as the process went on and on, I gained a tremendous amount of respect for the CSG team. They have the highest ethical standards, integrity, and they are not private equity. They are a long-term strategic holder. And they are going to give us as much support as we want to grow the business. The conversation was always, “We’re going to give you the tools, but we need you to grow.”
And that’s enlightening. It takes you out of those 90-day decisions you had to make as a publicly traded company and instead you can say, “OK, where do I think the company needs to be in three or four years?”
They are a fantastically-run company, only wanting to grow their market presence.
OL: You’ve always been an aggressive business leader. Can you talk about any categories that you’re most excited about growing into?
JV: It’s just about opening up new markets that we either didn’t play in or we’re not a major player in. Those are growth opportunities for us. And that will segment technologies, that will segment product offerings, and that’s just great. It’s going to diversify Federal and our other companies, which is what we need. And it’s going to be fun to take our products to new places.
OL: Can you give me any examples, or is that top-secret strategy?
JV: We’re certainly going to have a bigger international presence.
OL: And is that just because of the relationships CSG already has in the international market?
JV: Absolutely. And we will bring those guys some opportunities that they don’t have today, so it’s a very complementary business.
OL: One prevalent line of thinking out there is that when ammo companies prioritize production of the military and law enforcement, it then creates higher prices and less availability on the civilian side. Is that assumption fair?
JV: No, that’s not fair. It’s a very vanilla statement that I hear almost every day, but in the inner workings of the factory, it’s simply not true.
We always have [manufacturing] capacity that’s deemed for law enforcement or military and we’re by far the leader in law enforcement in the United States with Speer and Federal. As for military, we do good business with the military and we’d love to do more business with military.
So it seems to be that when the military market goes up, the commercial market goes down. Or, when there’s civil unrest, the rising tide raises all boats. [During COVID ammo shortages] it didn’t matter what channel of trade you were a part of, nobody got enough ammo. Unfortunately you don’t make anyone happy [during those times], but it’s about how you spread out your production.
But I can assure you that within the mission statement of our company is [the commitment] to support law enforcement and the U.S. military. Sometimes for reasons we can’t see — market demands and market pressures — we can’t make everyone happy, but we do our best.
OL: So how long exactly has this sale process been going on?
JV: Two and a half years, since May 5, 2022.
OL: You worked for these brands for a long time. This is probably the most important point of your career. So what was it like going through this process?
JV: It was a tremendous learning experience. I’m glad I did it. And at the same time I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. It was exhausting. It took many twists and turns. Next to US Steel, this acquisition probably got the most media coverage. At the end of the day we had to focus on what’s the value for our shareholders and what’s the best value for our team. And I think after the two and a half years we got it, but we by no means expected all the twists and turns.
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OL: You talked about leadership staying in place. So, you’re staying on? You’re not cashing in your chips and riding off into the sunset?
JV: I am staying on. I want to see the company grow and prosper in the private market. I’ve worked for public companies my whole life and it will be a breath of fresh air working for a private company. And I want to make sure that all of the credit goes to our employees and to the team that got us where we are. So I want to see the team prosper.
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