Ceska Zbrojovka Group Buys Colt
The Czech-based parent company of CZ and Connecticut’s Colt have come to an agreement, with CZ becoming incrementally more American.
The Ceská Zbrojovka Group (CZG) will acquire a 100-percent stake in historic Colt’s manufacturing company and its Canadian subsidiary. CZG has agreed to a cash and stock deal that includes $220 million upfront and the issue of just over 1 million shares of newly issued common stock. The combined group will have annual projected revenues of over $500 million.
Poetrooper sends.
Sign of the Times: Iconic American Gun Manufacturer Sold Off to European Group
By Kipp Jones
The 185-year reign for Colt as a uniquely American company is over after the gun manufacturer announced it was bought this week by a European competitor.
Czech firearms company Ceska Zbrojovka Group purchased the company for $220 million in cash and stock — and ended an American tradition in doing so.
“Subject to the terms and conditions of the definitive agreement, CZG shall acquire a 100% stake in Colt for upfront cash consideration of $220 million and the issuance of 1,098,620 shares of newly issued CZG common stock,” CZG wrote in a news release. “The agreement also provides for potential earnout consideration of up to 1,098,620 shares of newly issued CZG common stock …”
CZG chair Lubomír Kova?ík commented on the sale, as did Colt CEO Dennis Veilleux.
“This merger is a strategic step for both companies. The acquisition of Colt, an iconic brand and a benchmark for the military, law enforcement and commercial markets globally, fits perfectly in our strategy to become the leader in the firearms manufacturing industry and a key partner for the armed forces,” Kova?ík said.
Colt has been suffering from self-inflicted wounds ever since it’s design patents ran out. Sad, but this or Colt will be a memory. Read the entire article here: Western Journal
Thanks, Poe.
Category: "The Floggings Will Continue Until Morale Improves", Economy, Guest Link
Sad song, I ain’t lying. Hope it’s not the continuing of a trend. Also wonder how much of a “Golden Parachute” the suits of Colt carried with them out the door?
They ruin a company and then walk away with a very nice nest egg. Ain’t like we haven’t seen that movie before.
And, as I mentioned to Ed, free of worry of their cash cow being sued into oblivion after the Dems make firearms manufacturers liable for every crime committed with their products.
They (CZ) already owns Dan Wesson in the US. Their quality hasn’t suffered because of the foreign ownership. Colt can only go up from where it is now.
Since we are talking about free markets:
Milton Friedman: Myths That Conceal Reality.
This is Friedman’s version of the red pill. I was blown away at 55:44.
“We will not solve our problems by electing the right people. We will only solve our problems by making it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing”.
I loved his comment at 1:15:54…”Aren’t the people supposed to know the difference between deceit and truth? No!…They are supposed to be intelligent enough to choose between alternative purveyors of supposed truth.
Word is that Colt is going to be moved out of Connecticut down to free America, I believe I read it was Alabama. That means they will get out of a socialist state and have more ability to make guns in a place where they are not hated, as well as dumping the for the most part disinterestede union pigs who were also a part of the problem. Every gun outfit who moved to the south or indeed anywhere other than liberal states has thrived, and this will be no different. It will be nice to see Colt actually making guns again.
Didn’t I hear here (?) that (maybe it was somewhere else gun related) that their son works for CZ in the US (Maybe) and that they’ve seen the quality of one of the runs of revolvers and this Dad said “I was blown away by the quality control and manufacturing of the parts and the final product, not unlike the reputation the Swiss have for making fine watches for hundreds of years.”
Well, as one of the trainers and instructors said in my HQL range recently, “You know what manufacturers are after? Your dollars. AND since things have been somewhat out of control of late, speaking of the last decade or so, (probably well beyond that for the argument) if you don’t make a quality product, with the Internet and such, and having customers as part of the process, as it were, (social media, reviews YouTube etc), if you don’t make a consistent quality product, you’re dead. And every single company that makes guns and ammo are fighting for you dollars, regardless of supply and demand. It’s all and always will, be driven by the consumer. (Assuming government isn’t part of the question and equation ultimately and yes this was a few weeks ago)
I own two CZ semi-auto handguns. They both are far superior to the Beretta 92, Remington R51 and/or Sig P226 Blackwater that I also own. That CZ ownership can only do Colt large amounts of good.
As has been said elsewhere, better Czech than ChiCom.
Colt has been running on the name for decades. They barely make their own products anymore. They reissued the 1903 Pocket Hammerless a few years ago and it was made by another company. They have misfired on so many products in the last few decades. Remember the Colt 2000, the Double Eagle, the “Smart Gun”, hell they screwed up the 1911 they sold to MARSOC. The finish started wearing off in only a few weeks of use. They actually released a CZ product back in the 90’s I believe and of course they screwed it up. I own CZ products and they are well made. Colt has been existing on Government contracts. I hope CZ turns it around. Get them out of New England and to some where that is more conducive to manufacturing firearms.
In Colt’s defense, I had read that the Suck specified that they wanted the cerakote finish. Somewhere in the contract, they changed it to the ion bond finish, which is tougher, but as you and I know, NOTHING is Marine proof, and any gun finish will eventually wear off. They had no complaints about the functioning of the pistols, or their ability to hit people with them.
At present, the tiny dribble of Colt Pythons coming out of the factory are supposedly all coming out of the Custom Shop, to ensure they are top of the line guns. You are not going to get that off the union manned line.
Real world experience with CZ here: I bought a CZ-527 bolt action rifle in 7.62×39 in 2015. In 2020 I went to sell it to another shooter and he pointed out that it had a small crack in the stock (which was gorgeous walnut BTW.)
I was able to find my original receipt and looked up the warranty. Bad news for me, while they offered a 5 year warranty on the metal parts of the gun, the only offered a 1 year warranty on the wood. So I assumed I was out of luck – but just in case, I contacted the company and let them know what had happened (FWIW CZ America is located in Kansas City, KS.)
Result? They agreed to cover it under warranty, sent me a RMA and a shipping label. I sent it back to them and 10 days later I received the rifle back with a brand new stock. Total cost to me: $0.00.
If that’s the way they take care of their customers then I think they’ll continue to do very well with what they bought from Colt.