American Outdoor Brands Corp. to Acquire Bubba Blade™

USA - English

• USA - English

SPRINGFIELD, Mass., July 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- American Outdoor Brands Corporation (NASDAQ Global Select: AOBC), a leading manufacturer of firearms and a provider of quality products for the shooting, hunting, and rugged outdoor enthusiast, today announced that its accessories business, Battenfeld Technologies, Inc., has agreed to acquire substantially all of the assets of Fish Tales, LLC ("Fish Tales"), a provider of premium sportsman knives and tools for fishing and hunting, including the premium knife brand, Bubba Blade™. 

James Debney, President and CEO of American Outdoor Brands, said, "In August of last year, we purchased the assets of Taylor Brands, LLC, a designer and distributor of high quality knives and specialty tools and the owner of a number of highly-regarded, legacy brands including Schrade, Uncle Henry, Old Timer, and Imperial. The purchase of Fish Tales will expand our presence in the knife and tool market, and establish our entry into fishing accessories.  The Bubba Blade brand is widely recognized among outdoor enthusiasts for some of the finest knives and tools for fishing, hunting, and kitchen use. The company's proprietary design has gained popularity due to an enhanced handle grip, which is highly effective in adverse environments. With an existing product line that spans knives, pliers, and other tools, and a distribution channel that includes wholesale, major retail, and direct-to-consumer sales, Bubba Blade products are a natural fit with our accessories business. We look forward to further innovating and expanding this popular product line into adjacent markets that we believe will benefit from the Bubba Blade design."       

The company intends to complete the acquisition utilizing cash on hand. The transaction is expected to close this summer, after which it will transition the business to its facility in Columbia, Missouri. Bubba Blade products will be on display at ICAST 2017, the world's largest sportfishing tradeshow, on July 11 – 14, 2017 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

About American Outdoor Brands Corporation
American Outdoor Brands Corporation (NASDAQ Global Select: AOBC) is a provider of quality products for shooting, hunting, and rugged outdoor enthusiasts in the global consumer and professional markets. The company reports two segments: Firearms and Outdoor Products & Accessories.  Firearms manufactures handgun and long gun products sold under the Smith & Wesson®, M&P®, and Thompson/Center Arms™ brands as well as provides forging, machining, and precision plastic injection molding services. Outdoor Products & Accessories provides shooting, hunting, and outdoor accessories, including reloading, gunsmithing, and gun cleaning supplies, tree saws, vault accessories, knives, laser sighting systems, tactical lighting products, and survival and camping equipment. Brands in Outdoor Products & Accessories include Smith & Wesson®, M&P®, Thompson/Center Arms™, Crimson Trace®, Caldwell® Shooting Supplies, Wheeler® Engineering, Tipton® Gun Cleaning Supplies, Frankford Arsenal® Reloading Tools, Lockdown® Vault Accessories, Hooyman® Premium Tree Saws, BOG POD®, Golden Rod® Moisture Control, Schrade®, Old Timer®, Uncle Henry®, UST™, and Imperial™.  For more information on American Outdoor Brands Corporation, call (844) 363-5386 or log on to www.aob.com. 

Safe Harbor Statement
Certain statements contained in this press release may be deemed to be forward-looking statements under federal securities laws, and we intend that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbor created thereby.  Such forward-looking statements include the timing and completion of our acquisition of Fish Tales; our belief that the acquisition of Fish Tales allows us to further expand our accessories business; our belief that the acquisition will expand our presence in the knife and tool market and establish our presence in the fishing accessories market; our ability to further innovate and expand the Bubba Blade brand into adjacent markets; and and our expectation of operating synergies in connection with the acquisition.  We caution that these statements are qualified by important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected by such forward-looking statements.  Such factors include the demand for our products; the state of the U.S. economy; general economic conditions and consumer spending patterns;  our anticipated growth and growth opportunities; our ability to increase demand for our products in various markets, including consumer, law enforcement, and military channels, domestically and internationally; the position of our accessories and hunting products in the consumer discretionary marketplace and distribution channel; our penetration rates in new and existing markets; our strategies; our ability to introduce new products; the success of new products; our ability to expand our markets; our ability to integrate acquired businesses in a successful manner; and other risks detailed from time to time in our reports filed with the SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2017.

Contact: Liz Sharp, VP Investor Relations 
American Outdoor Brands Corporation
(413) 747-6284
[email protected]     

SOURCE American Outdoor Brands Corporation

Related Links

http://www.aob.com