In a regulatory filing, Vista Outdoor announced an over $50 million cost reduction and earnings improvement program, including closing Bell/Giro headquarters in Scotts Valley, CA, spending cuts, EBIT improvements, and headcount reductions across brands and corporate teams.
“The changes are being implemented in response to elevated retail inventory levels, rising interest rates and inflation, which have pressured our top and bottom lines and impacted our outlook for Fiscal Year,” said Vista Outdoor in the filing. The changes will help the company compete in the current challenging economic environment and prepare for the separation of its Outdoor Products and Sporting Products segments into two independent, publicly traded companies, which is expected to occur in calendar year 2023.”
Within the company’s Outdoor Products segment, Vista Outdoor said it is accelerating the merger of the Bell, Blackburn, Copilot, Fox, Giro, Krash, and Raskullz businesses through leadership and facility consolidations. As part of these measures, the current Bell/Giro headquarters in Scotts Valley, CA, will close effective September 1, 2023, with affected employees relocating to a revamped Innovation Center at its Fox Headquarters in Irvine, CA.
Effective immediately, Jason Vanderbrink was promoted to CEO of Sporting Products within the company’s Sporting Products segment. Vanderbrink will continue as president of Sporting Products for the company.
At the corporate level, the company streamlined its corporate costs and operating model by reducing headcount, cutting outside spending and using its resources to “maximize brand autonomy and corporate scale.”
Vista Outdoor said, “These changes will drive efficiencies in the deployment of corporate services and enable more results from our supply chain, E-commerce, licensing, and M&A Centers of Excellence. The cost reductions bring Vista Outdoor’s Fiscal Year 2024 strategic priorities into focus and help prepare the company for the separation this year.”
Following the separation, the Outdoor Products segment will include Bell, Bushnell, Bushnell Golf, CamelBak, Camp Chef, Foresight Sports, Fox Racing, Giro, QuietKat, Simms Fishing, and Stone Glacier, while Sporting Products includes CCI, Federal, HEVI-Shot, Remington, and Speer.
The restructuring efforts come as Vista Outdoor announced on February 6 the voluntary resignation of CEO Chris Metz due to Vista’s “board’s loss of confidence in his leadership.” Gary McArthur, a board member since 2015, was named interim CEO.
Photo courtesy Bell/Giro
