Not sure if you guys heard this, but I saw last week on a PR wire that Freedom Group bought Barnes Bullets. Freedom is a group of companies headed up by Steven Feinberg, who founded Cerebus Capital. Freedom owns Remington and a bunch of other companies.

Typical gun-related business. What's that now, 5th owners, or 6th? Starting to remind me of RCBS, CCI, Winchester, Remington, Newton, Berger Bullets, Nesika, and many, many others.

Whatever happened to "make a good product at a fair price, and stick with it..." as a business model?

barnes is a family run business.
the owners used to make bullets in their house and slept in their front room.
they built up what they have from basically nothing.
their kids really have no knowledge of the business. and for the brand to continue, being bought out is probably the best thing.
i wish frank and cathy the best in their retirement.

I don't have any problem with company's selling out ; Provided it's not to an overseas company or they out

source operations . That REALLY PISSES ME OFF !. As that's simply a GREED motivation !!!.

quote:

Originally posted by Lamar:
barnes is a family run business.
the owners used to make bullets in their house and slept in their front room.
they built up what they have from basically nothing.
their kids really have no knowledge of the business. and for the brand to continue, being bought out is probably the best thing.
i wish frank and cathy the best in their retirement.

WHAT?
built from nothing .. then sold to the current owners .. who aren't MOM AND POP .. they are business people .. their kids have NOTHING to do with this

Really, seriously, no. your sentiment is misplaced

Anyone that really knows this company and their products is not worried. They are solid, and no management or staff in the company is changing, just the ownership. Same top of the line products that far outperform any competition.

quote:

Originally posted by Ken Cline:
Anyone that really knows this company and their products is not worried. They are solid, and no management or staff in the company is changing, just the ownership. Same top of the line products that far outperform any competition.

I have been involved in at least a half dozen mearges through the years....no managment changes? In two years there will be no current managers left and manufacture will be moved south....don't go nuts on me or throw a fit but this is what happens every time a company changes hands.

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:

quote:

Originally posted by Ken Cline:
Anyone that really knows this company and their products is not worried. They are solid, and no management or staff in the company is changing, just the ownership. Same top of the line products that far outperform any competition.

I have been involved in at least a half dozen mearges through the years....no managment changes? In two years there will be no current managers left and manufacture will be moved south....don't go nuts on me or throw a fit but this is what happens every time a company changes hands.

really? Yes, there will be turnover at the high levels -- chambers says 80% of those that will leave will leave within 2 years .. and that's why you wrap them up in an employement contract.

manf going south? really? dmps, marlin, bushmaster, and NEF have really gone south .. no, wait a second .. AND their quality and production have gone UP

dakota HAS to go up, as its been bankrupt TWICE in 4 years --- there's NO MONEY for an investment company to "take out"

cerberus has a long history of coming in, shaping up management, and the company makes more money, and is left with a stronger assest

Will there be changes? Guys, Barnes is an innovative company, and has LOTS of changed every year ... Remington, the core of the freedom group, makes more COMMERICAL ammo that anyone else, and I expect them to be loading Barnes in their premium ammo group .. NOT displacing "green box" remmy ammo, but ADDING a premium line ...

btw, the OWNERSHIP changes, by the billions of shares, every day of every publicly traded company .. the controlling interest is what has changed ..

ruger, another company bought by investors, has SKYROCKETED in products and offerings and quality...


Here's what *I* think will happen -- there will be more barnes bullets on the shelf, as they will have an improved production schedule in the next 2 years ... i DO expect the "barnes original" cup and core bullets to become either extinit or part of the corelock line, as that product makes NO SENSE to run in a high tech bullet line production floor.

and i also expect small orders to be more affordable ... why? once production is optimized, and more gear added to the production line to fulfill remington ammo's demand, there will be capacity available, at a cheaper rate.

I would disagree about bullets being cheaper, but that is about it. Prime example is remington accutip, a rebadged Hornady SST for 25% more$$$. Every time I hear about evil small business sold for a big profit, I just about puke. Most of the small mom and pop shops, truth be known don't really net close to what most think they do, but pay big $$ in taxes because they are asset rich and cash poor. Most would walk away from all the crap that business has to deal with, plus all that is looking like could come down the pike in the next year or so for a decent $$$ figure.

The company I now work for is owned by Charter Oaks Investment Group....they are also BIG!
....will there be big changes at Barnes Bullets...many!
It is what happens every time big-buys-small.

quote:

Originally posted by Doc224/375:
I don't have any problem with company's selling out ; Provided it's not to an overseas company or they out

source operations . That REALLY PISSES ME OFF !. As that's simply a GREED motivation !!!.

Doc,

I own a software company. I started it myself. The first guy I hired was a guy in South America. Paid him $7/hr to write computer code. I often wonder if I didn't hire him, would he have started his own company that pulls cash into his own instead of ours? You never know.


The next guy I hired made 95K. No one outside of South America has made less than 55k, and that is for kids straight out of college.

Outsourcing allows me to hire more Americans. That is probably difficult for you to understand.

What I really find revolting is your statement that I shouldn't be allowed to sell my company to anyone I want. It is mine, and I can do with it as I please. It REALLY PISSES me off when I take chances, provide jobs, and then someone else tries to dictate what I do with my enterprise.

quote:

Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:

quote:

Originally posted by Doc224/375:
I don't have any problem with company's selling out ; Provided it's not to an overseas company or they out

source operations . That REALLY PISSES ME OFF !. As that's simply a GREED motivation !!!.

Doc,

I own a software company. I started it myself. The first guy I hired was a guy in South America. Paid him $7/hr to write computer code. I often wonder if I didn't hire him, would he have started his own company that pulls cash into his own instead of ours? You never know.


The next guy I hired made 95K. No one outside of South America has made less than 55k, and that is for kids straight out of college.

Outsourcing allows me to hire more Americans. That is probably difficult for you to understand.

What I really find revolting is your statement that I shouldn't be allowed to sell my company to anyone I want. It is mine, and I can do with it as I please. It REALLY PISSES me off when I take chances, provide jobs, and then someone else tries to dictate what I do with my enterprise.

All this. Well said