ATK buys Bushnell in $985M deal

ATK is acquiring commercial optics maker Bushnell in a shift towards the consumer market:

Alliant Techsystems Inc, the world’s largest ammunitions maker, will buy gun accessories company Bushnell Group Holdings Inc for $985 million as it shifts focus to a fast-growing shooting sports business from a spending-constrained defense industry.

Alliant, spun off from Honeywell International in 1990 and commonly known as ATK, said it would integrate Bushnell into its sporting group business, which makes products such as sporting rifles, holsters and harnesses.

Bushnell, owned by private equity firm MidOcean Partners since 2007, makes binoculars, riflescopes and night vision equipment for sports such as shooting, hunting and fishing.

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Bushnell is best known for affordable mid-range rifle scopes, spotting scopes, and binoculars, but is also known for laser range finders, GPSs, night vision, and trial cameras.

The company should integrate nicely with existing ATK sporting brands, including the Buck Commander, Duck Commander, Blachhawk!, RCBS, Federal Premium, and Savage Arms lines.

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