Sierra Bullets Has Been Sold

[tommag]

http://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/clar...0822-00496

[lrgrendel]

With Berger bought by LAPUA and now Sierra sold....will prices start to creep up I wonder???

Hornady are already looking for more $$$$ for the Amax replacement....

[grayfox]

This is interesting. Sierra has been privately held, and Clarus is not that big of a company... I'm looking at the Clarus financials now trying to see why they're doing it. First thought is Clarus is having a hard time generating "free cash flow" - 4 yrs in a row of negative eps. And maybe Sierra wants to expand itself but doesn't have the cash either... Sierra only does bullets whereas Nosler does bullets, brass, ammo and rifles. Part of the reason bullet prices are going up is the last lead smelting factory in the US had to cloe thanks to the OBamster.

In the components and ammo market, I think Sierra may feel that it's getting left behind, with the other consolidations etc going on. Plus Hornady, Nosler are also bigger...

[StoneHendge]

The Sierra family is likely cashing out. Valuations are high with consolidation so why not shop your biz? I'd wager good $ that everyone in the industry made a bid or at least took a look. Clarus has the tax losses to shelter income so their after tax returns will be higher, and hence the highest bid. This is probably the worst outcome from a consumer standpoint - hopefully Clarus' other money losing businesses don't suck too much out of Sierra

[LRRPF52]

I had no idea Sierra was that huge in valuation. $79 million is freaking insane money. That would be 263,333,333 bullets at 30 cents a piece.

[middle man]

OEM business, they make more bullets than they sell to reloaders.

[grayfox]

I had no idea Sierra was that huge in valuation. $79 million is freaking insane money. That would be 263,333,333 bullets at 30 cents a piece.

Small potatoes in the firearms biz. Vista outdoors (Bushnell, Speer, Savage, Federal, American Eagle, CCI, etc etc) is 1.0 Billion+ and America Outdoors (Smith/WEsson, Thompson Center, Crimson Trace, Frankford, Wheeler etc) is 960 Million...

[LRRPF52]

OEM business, they make more bullets than they sell to reloaders.

I've been shooting Sierra bullets in OEM cartridges for decades, so very well aware of their market presence. Just never saw a number on it valued like that.

For comparison, DPMS was sold for a fraction of that to Freedom Group.

[Joseph5]

They also provide a large number of bullets to the government for military ammunition.

[VASCAR2]

When I took the tour at Sierra factory a couple of years ago Sierra was providing bullet jackets to Lake City. At that time some of the most popular bullets were .224 69 and 77 SMK, many of which were going to government contracts. There is a lot of specialized equipment in the factory and they are very conscious of quality control, manufacturing capacity and trying to meet demand.

I inquired about new products in the 6.5/264 and 6.5 Grendel specifically. Response was they didn't have the production capacity to add any new products until they started loosing market share because of more or less volume of sales by consumers.

Sierra was running three shifts per day five to six days per week. This was just prior to the release of the tipped match king bullets. As previously mentioned Sierra bullets are used in other manufacturer's ammunition. Some manufacturers publicly acknowledge the use of Sierra bullets and others do not because of NDA.