Cabela’s, Bass Pro Shops Merger Set To Go Through

By Tom Knighton

Bass Pro’s purchase of Cabela’s hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing. Poor quarterly earnings, in part due to a depressed firearm market as well as the liquidation of Gander Mountain’s gun inventory, caused the two outdoor retailers to have difficulties. In addition, the powers that be wanted to sell Cabelas finance arm. Unfortunately, that kind of thing requires government approval.

According to Guns.com, though, they got it.

Federal regulators approved part of the pending Cabela’s multi-billion dollar merger with Bass Pro Shops Wednesday, sending its share prices up more than 14 percent in after hours trading.

With the Federal Reserve’s green light on Cabela’s sale of its consumer credit financing arm — World’s Foremost Bank — to Synovus Financial Corp, out of the way, the $5 billion buyout deal can proceed.

Bass Pro Shops bought Cabela’s in October for $5.5 billion, or $65.50 per share. Later the Missouri-based sporting goods chain restructured the deal for a lower share price of $61.50.

After Cabela’s weak second quarter sales, however, investor analysts cautioned the retailer could be desperate to close the deal, while Bass Pro Shops may see its former competitor’s tumbling stock as a cost-saving …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms