American Outdoor Brands Corp., formerly Smith & Wesson, announced the creation of its new Outdoor Recreation Division to expand the company’s portfolio of consumer brands and products further into the rugged outdoor recreation market, naming Brian D. Murphy as president of the newly created division.
Murphy joins American Outdoor Brands from Vista Outdoor Inc., a publicly traded designer, manufacturer and marketer of outdoor sports and recreation products.
James Debney, American Outdoor Brands Corporation president and CEO, said, “I am very excited to have someone as talented as Brian Murphy join our already incredibly strong team. His goal is to establish and build our new Outdoor Recreation Division — from the ground up — by bringing a new dimension to our inorganic growth strategy. In leading the Outdoor Recreation Division, Brian will focus on markets related to rugged outdoor pursuits, such as camping, hiking and fishing — all of which already strongly resonate with many of our core firearms consumers and retailers. This focus is perfectly aligned with our vision at American Outdoor Brands to be the leading provider of quality products for the shooting, hunting, and rugged outdoor enthusiast. Brian’s successful track record of identifying opportunities, creating, and leading highly productive teams, as well as building and running business operations, makes him the ideal leader to establish and grow our new rugged outdoor recreation business. We look forward to benefiting from his expertise and the establishment of a new family of brands and products that will further serve our core consumers.”
Murphy joined Vista Outdoor in 2015 when the company was formed as a result of a spin-off from Alliant Techsystems (ATK), a leader in aerospace, defense, and sporting goods. At Vista Outdoor, Murphy served as vice president of corporate development, a role in which he led approximately $900 million in acquisitions over an 18-month period. In 2016, he was named one of SGB’s 40 Under 40 honorees.
Prior to joining Vista Outdoor, Murphy served as director of corporate development and corporate financial planning and analysis for ATK. Prior to joining ATK, Murphy held management positions with McMaster-Carr Supply Company, a supplier of maintenance, repair and operations materials to industrial and commercial facilities worldwide, and was previously an investment banker with Houlihan Lokey, a leading middle-market investment bank. Murphy earned his B.S. in Business from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.
Moving forward, American Outdoor Brands Corporation will report its business as 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 and also provides 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, tactical lighting products and survival and camping equipment. 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, Golden Rod Moisture Control, Schrade, Old Timer, Uncle Henry, UST and Imperial.
Photo courtesy American Outdoor Brands Corp.
