View Full Version : Cerberus sells off Freedom Group
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2012/12/18/breaking-news-cerberus-to-sell-freedom-group/
Well, that's interesting...
I doubt many of us have much enthusiasm for Bushmaster or DPMS, but I've never heard of a company selling off its holding due to a tragedy like this.
Unless there is something else to it.
Obviously a good time to make a fortune.
I just came across this news link.
Now this makes more sense. A lot more sense.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/18/cerberus-freedomgroup-idUSL5E8NI1A720121218
I just came across this news link.
Now this makes more sense. A lot more sense.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/18/cerberus-freedomgroup-idUSL5E8NI1A720121218
That may likely be part of it but I wonder of if more of the motivations behind the decision is out of fear that congress may actually manage to push some sort of AWB legislation type through this time around which long term would be bad for business.
In an opinion piece published on Monday in Slate magazine, former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer said pressure should be stepped up on the owners of gun companies, like Cerberus, to change the way they operate.
The ****!?
Change the way they operate? You mean manufacture civilian firearms and make a profit?
I hope that fag sticks his dick in a prostitute with VD and it falls off.
That may likely be part of it but I wonder of if more of the motivations behind the decision is out of fear that congress may actually manage to push some sort of AWB legislation type through this time around which long term would be bad for business.
Man, that thought also crossed my mind.
I just don't know.
This shit has my mind spinning too fast, it's almost 3 AM and I haven't slept. Mind you, we've been collectively talking about it since last Friday. Or maybe it's just us RKBA people since this issue potentially affects us.
Spitzer is a tool.
Business_Casual
12-18-12, 07:03
Dude. No.
The company has been wanting to sell its interests in The Freedom Group for some time now. Sales across the industry are very strong and they will remain strong for at least another 12 - 24 months.
PE gets into a business or industry to make money. Have we been socialists so long we've forgotten how free markets work? These dudes just want to cash out, they've got mistresses and beach homes to pay for, man. Come on, I'm surprised they held that asset as long as they did - look at how strong the share growth is in the two companies they listed below the article.
bc
Cashing out at the peak before a potential crash.... What else would you expect an investment group to do?
Or maybe it's a way to institute a ban without instituting a ban. I'm not sure what the long term implications are of funds not investing in gun companies or divesting themselves of gun companies, but could it lead to cash shortages for some companies who rely on investment capital to operate??
If large funds begin selling off chunks of shares because of either political pressure the value of those shares hitting the street will plummet. What does that mean to a Colt or Smith and Wesson?? Can they be forced into bankruptcy? Can they be forced to scale back operations and create an even bigger gap between demand and supply hence pricing out most people from ownership? The wait for a Colt is already bad enough!!!!
People like LaRue or LMT may not get hammered but their products are already out of range for a lot of folks. For the private guy how does a mass sell off impact the ability to get loans to run operations???
Is this the back door crap that requires no legal maneuvering and is made to look like the free market????
SomeOtherGuy
12-18-12, 12:27
I've long been nervous about the increasing share of the industry within Cerberus "Freedom Group," and this just furthers my fears.
However, as someone who occasionally sees the investment guidelines of major institutions - many institutions with huge assets (like pension funds, etc.) prohibit any investment in "socially undesirable" areas like tobacco, porn, certain types of military weapons, etc. I'll bet a lot of those institutions put all firearms and related on that list soon. It could be that Cerberus is simply being pragmatic and defending their business position. They are a business, not a firearms booster, whatever they may say.
If the Freedom Group CEO really cares as deeply about RKBA as he has claimed, I would not be surprised to see a spin-off of the group to him and some other insiders / selected parties, probably as a privately held company.
LowSpeed_HighDrag
12-18-12, 13:53
Under the radar. This is how it all begins, and ends. Under the radar.
brickboy240
12-18-12, 14:47
Investment groups often sell off holdings before they go under.
If a ban comes...DPMS and Bushy will go the way of the do-do bird.
-brickboy240
Investment groups often sell off holdings before they go under.
If a ban comes...DPMS and Bushy will go the way of the do-do bird.
-brickboy240
Will the smaller companies survive the grind? Like DD, BCM, Noveske, etc?
Or is it like Judo, in which the bigger they are, the harder they fall?
Business_Casual
12-18-12, 15:33
Will the smaller companies survive the grind? Like DD, BCM, Noveske, etc?
Or is it like Judo, in which the bigger they are, the harder they fall?
Some of those companies have DoD contracts. For instance, I calculated that the US Army had spent a $ billion on SOPMOD kits over the past decade.
bc
PA PATRIOT
12-18-12, 15:34
Cashing out at the peak before a potential crash.... What else would you expect an investment group to do?
^Exactly this.^
They also had a major investor who is very anti-gun use their investment dollars to force the sale. Its a win-win for Cerberus as they will show a good profit selling off Freedom Group and keep a major investor by doing so.
Its good Business.
Moose-Knuckle
12-18-12, 16:34
Well maybe now the ACR can be un****ed . . . http://www.websmileys.com/sm/sad/533.gif
brickboy240
12-18-12, 16:40
If you were limited to a CA styled AR...who the hell would buy one?
Why blow the cake on that?
Build a decent combat shotty and tune up your 1911 and call it good.
-brickboy240
FWIW, a local gunshop has pulled Bushmaster ARs off the shelf & will not sell them. No word on the reason. They are still selling other brands.
Cerberus is doing what ever they can to distance themselves from the shooting to avoid a lawsuit.
They have also sold us down the river with this statement here:
Cerberus said the Newtown tragedy was a "watershed event" that has raised the national debate on gun control "to an unprecedented level."
However, it added the firm was responsible for only investment decisions it makes on behalf of its clients and does not play the role of "statesmen or policy makers."
"It is not our role to take positions, or attempt to shape or influence the gun control policy debate. That is the job of our federal and state legislators," it said.
Magic_Salad0892
12-18-12, 16:58
I'll be honest. I didn't like the fact that one company owned that many other companies anyway.
If the AWB passes sales of AR-15s and silencers are going to tank.
The freedom group owns AAC, Bushy, and DPMS.
They need to sell when the price is high.
Under the radar. This is how it all begins, and ends. Under the radar.
But everyone cries "tinfoil" when you mention any of this when times are seemingly "good". Now we begin to smell the putrid odor and its "probable".
You're very much correct, btw. I just hope you're incorrect...
From the article
Following pressure from a major investor,
Wonder who that could be. Who, meaning a single investor, could have that much pull?
From the article
Wonder who that could be. Who, meaning a single investor, could have that much pull?
Supposedly the pension fund for a CA teacher's union.
SomeOtherGuy
12-19-12, 07:14
From the article
Wonder who that could be. Who, meaning a single investor, could have that much pull?
Probably CalPERS, which is a huge pension fund (I think the largest in the world) for all California public employees.
Anyway, it's a profit seeking investment company, I would be surprised if they didn't make all their decisions with profit in mind. Just another reason I didn't like their growth and accumulation of so much of the industry.
If I had the coin I'd buy it...
Suwannee Tim
12-25-12, 17:45
If I had the coin I'd buy it...
If I had the coin I wouldn't. Consider that the House of Representatives could fall to the Dems in the next election and the Supreme Court will likely get one or two new, liberal members to replace retiring conservatives. We are well into an age of Crony Capitalism. In that environmental I would not want to own a gun company.
Believe it or not, there are "socially responsible" :rolleyes: 401ks. CNN of course was talking about it last week after this announcement.
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