(Reuters) – Vista Outdoor said on Monday it had rejected a sweetened bid for the company by investment firm MNC Capital, and that a private investment firm had offered to buy its sporting products unit for more than $2 billion.
MNC Capital raised its offer for the sports and outdoor products maker to $39.50 per share, or more than $3 billion, last week after its previous bid of $37.50 per share was rejected by Vista, saying it undervalued the company and its performance gear business, Revelyst.
Shares of Vista rose 2.7% to $36.75 in premarket trade.
Vista, which has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, announced its plans to split its outdoor and sporting products units into two separate companies in 2022.
The company has also fielded multiple takeover interests for itself and its sporting products unit, Kinetic Group, since October last year.
In May, Vista agreed to sell Kinetic Group, including its guns and ammunition business, to the privately held Czechoslovak Group (CSG) for $1.96 billion.
The Prague-based CSG has been looking to widen its portfolio amid increasing demand for military equipment and ammunition demand ever since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Vista said on Monday MNC’s latest offer would not be favorable to stockholders financially and that it continued to recommend the acquisition of Kinetic Group by CSG.
The company also said the party, which is interested in acquiring Kinetic Group, is prepared to execute definitive agreements by June 14 and that its offer would “reasonably be expected to lead to a superior proposal.”
The company had rejected an offer of $30 per share from Czech gunmaker Colt CZ Group in November.
(Reporting by Granth Vanaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi)
