Stephen A. Feinberg spent the past decade building America’s leading firearms empire. Now, as the nation convulses after its latest massacre, he’s plunging into what might just be one of the most politically fraught corporate bankruptcies in recent memory.
Amid rage over the Feb. 14 Florida school shooting, Feinberg’s Remington Outdoor Co. is trying to pull off a swift trip through the court. The process will hand ownership of the guns-and-ammunition conglomerate from Feinberg’s private investment firm, Cerberus Capital Management, to such well-known names as Franklin Resources Inc. and JPMorgan Asset Management and their broad customer bases.
The soon-to-be owners, who still must line up fresh financing, won’t operate the company for long, according to people with knowledge of the matter. They’ll seek to sell it in whole or part soon after the reorganized firm emerges from bankruptcy court, the people said.
The deal is coming together even as investors’ distaste for the gun trade is growing, said Kevin Cassidy, an analyst at Moody’s Investors Service.
“It absolutely hurts them, being in this kind of industry,” said Cassidy, who covers Remington. “Just like some funds no matter what won’t invest in tobacco, there are investors now that feel the same about gun companies.”
Cerberus will leave behind a cadre of advisers at Remington through June 30; the situation is touchy enough that in restructuring documents their names have been blacked out.
Liz Micci, an outside spokeswoman for Cerberus, declined to comment for this story.
Mr. Gun
It’s a remarkable turn of events for Feinberg, a gun enthusiast whose firm owns a major defense contractor and briefly sought a national-security role in the Trump administration. His move into the consumer firearms trade made him among the biggest seller of guns in a nation awash in them. But after the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre in Connecticut, his investment became a burden he has struggled to shed, finally resorting to unusual steps to buy out big Read more....