Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation plans to hold a special shareholder meeting to seek approval to change its corporate name from Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation to American Outdoor Brands Corporation.
The proposed holding corporation name change has been approved by the company’s board of directors and reflects the company’s expanding strategic focus on the growing markets for shooting, hunting and outdoor enthusiasts. If approved by stockholders, American Outdoor Brands Corporation will serve as the holding corporation for Smith & Wesson Corp., Battenfeld Technologies Inc. and Crimson Trace Corporation, which represent the company’s firearms, manufacturing services, accessories and electro-optics divisions.
James Debney, president and chief executive officer of Smith & Wesson, said, “By executing on our strategy to be a leader in the shooting, hunting and rugged outdoor enthusiast markets, we have successfully grown from a single operating division to four operating divisions that serve a large addressable market and represent more than 18 respected consumer brands. We believe the name ‘American Outdoor Brands Corporation’ will better reflect our family of brands, our broad range of product offerings and our plan to continue building upon our portfolio of strong American brands. Looking forward, we intend to aggressively grow organically and through strategic acquisitions, focusing on brands and products that best meet the needs and lifestyle of our target consumers.”
If approved by the stockholders, the name change would be effective on or about January 1, 2017. At the same time, the company also anticipates it will adopt the symbol “AOBC” for its NASDAQ stock exchange listing.
Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation 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 providing 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 and tactical lighting products. 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 and Golden Rod Moisture Control, as well as knives and specialty tools under Schrade, Old Timer, Uncle Henry and Imperial.
