MidOcean Partners, a middle market private equity firm, is to sell Bushnell Group to ATK.
Bushnell specialises in branded sports optics, outdoor accessories and performance eyewear.
MidOcean acquired Bushnell in August 2007 and has helped to transform the business as it completed nine add-on acquisitions into complementary product lines.
Bushnell offers a broad portfolio of high-quality, affordable products such as laser rangefinders, trail cameras, riflescopes, binoculars, hunting and shooting sports accessories, and sun, winter and safety eyewear.
“Bushnell is a leading provider of outdoor consumer-branded products,” says Blake Lipham, Bushnell Outdoor Products’ president and chief executive. “I am very proud of what MidOcean and the Bushnell team have accomplished during our partnership. We have completed nine acquisitions and successfully launched a wide variety of new products and category extensions during our partnership, which have expanded our brands and enabled us to provide a broader range of exceptional products to the sports enthusiast customers we serve.”
Bushnell provides a complementary portfolio of 19 outdoor brands including the iconic Bushnell brand and other authentic, heritage names such as Primos, Bollé, Hoppe’s, Uncle Mike’s, Butler Creek and Serengeti that are sold in more than 90 countries worldwide.
“MidOcean targets investments in companies that, like Bushnell, are leaders in their space where we see multiple opportunities for growth,” says Ted Virtue, MidOcean’s chief executive. “We bring significant strategic and operating resources to our portfolio companies to support our management teams. MidOcean was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to partner with Blake and his team as we applied MidOcean’s growth methodology to the Bushnell platform."
Morgan Stanley and Robert W Baird are acting as financial advisors to Bushnell, and Kirkland & Ellis is acting as its legal advisor.
