Lawsuit Alleges Gun Distributor’s Failure Not So Much Due To ‘Trump Slump’

By Tom Knighton

On Monday, I wrote about the bankruptcy filing by United Sporting Cos (USC), the parent company of Ellet Brothers. The firearm distributor blamed the filing on the excess stock that was the result of reduced demand following the election of President Donald Trump. They blamed the “Trump Slump” for insufficient sales, at least in part.

However, a lawsuit has been filed that alleges some of the biggest issues at the company had nothing to do with who won the 2016 presidential election.

A longtime Chapin-based firearms distributor filed for bankruptcy Monday after a lawsuit claimed the company’s corporate parent forced it to funnel hundreds of millions in loans into the pockets of executives and investors.

The lawsuit, filed in Lexington County on May 23, says Ellett Brothers went from being a homegrown sporting and hunting goods giant raking in $750 million in annual revenue to a financially collapsed company.

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Problems began a few years after Ellett Brothers was acquired by Wellspring Capital Management, a Delaware corporation, and placed under the control of Wellspring Capital Partners IV in 2008, according to the lawsuit. Wellspring formed SportCo and United Sporting to be parents to Ellett Brothers and its subsidiaries.

In September …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms