Remington swallows Marlin

[Brian in Oregon]

Remington to Acquire Marlin Firearms

MADISON, N.C., Dec 26, 2007 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/

-- Remington Arms Company, Inc. ("Remington" or "the Company") the only manufacturer of both firearms and ammunition for Hunting, Law Enforcement/Security, Government & Military applications in the United States, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Marlin Firearms Company, Inc. ("Marlin"). The transaction is expected to close by the end of January 2008.

Marlin, headquartered in North Haven, Connecticut, also owns Harrington and Richardson (H&R), New England Firearms (NEF) and LC Smith brands of rifles and shotguns.

Tommy Millner Remington's CEO, said, "I am pleased to announce that Marlin's well known brands with a long heritage of providing quality rifles and shotguns to hunters and shooters around the world will join the Remington family. The opportunity to combine two historic U.S. based companies with such storied and proud histories, is both challenging and exhilarating."

"We look forward to working with Bob Behn, a well respected member of our industry. He will remain as president of Marlin, charting a course of further growth and operational improvement," Mr. Millner continued.

Closing of the transaction is subject to certain customary conditions, including regulatory approvals. Credit Suisse acted as financial advisor to Remington with respect to this acquisition. Duff & Phelps Securities, LLC, a unit of Duff & Phelps Corporation (NYSE: DUF: 19.48, +0.50, +2.63%), initiated the transaction, assisted in the negotiations and acted as exclusive financial advisor to Marlin.

Frank Kenna III, Marlin's Chairman, said, "Marlin has been a family run business since 1924 and through a number of important steps, we have grown it into the company it is today. We knew it was time to find the right partner for Marlin to ensure our brands maintain their leadership positions and move into the next century."

Mr. Kenna III continued, "We believe Remington's commitment to the industry, shooters and hunters alike, combined with their resources from a manufacturing and sales and marketing position, will reinforce the confidence, hard work and dedication that our employees and management have put into our brands."

Marlin manufactures a wide range of long guns, from the historic Model 39 and 336 rifles, which are the oldest shoulder arm designs in the world still being produced, to the XLR Series, which are the most accurate lever action rifles in the world. Its lever action 22 repeater, now the Model 39, became the favorite of many exhibition shooters, including the great Annie Oakley.

E. Scott Blackwell, Remington's President of Global Sales/Marketing and Product Development, said, "The history of our two companies in innovation and meeting the needs of hunters and shooters around the globe, combined with the opportunity to further develop the Remington, Marlin, H&R, NEF and LC Smith brands, is not only beneficial to the Company and our channel partners, but especially to our end customer. It is these customers and our employees that have contributed to the success and longevity of these brands."

About Remington Arms Company, Inc.

Remington Arms Company, Inc., headquartered in Madison, N.C., designs, produces and sells sporting goods products for the hunting and shooting sports markets, as well as solutions to the military, government and law enforcement markets. Founded in 1816 in upstate New York, the Company is one of the nation's oldest continuously operating manufacturers. Remington is the only U.S. manufacturer of both firearms and ammunition products and one of the largest domestic producers of shotguns and rifles. The Company distributes its products throughout the U.S. and in over 55 foreign countries. More information about the Company can be found at www.remington.com.

About Marlin Firearms, Inc.

Established in 1870, The Marlin Firearms Company's brands include Marlin, Harrington & Richardson, New England Firearms and L. C. Smith. Under its various brands, Marlin produces an array of lever action, bolt action, and semi-automatic rifles, a wide variety of break-open single shot shotguns and rifles as well as muzzleloaders and combo sets. The company maintains a corporate Headquarters and manufacturing plant in North Haven, Connecticut as well as a manufacturing facility in Gardner, Massachusetts.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements give the Company's current expectations or forecasts of future events. These forward looking statements include expectations regarding (i) the proposed acquisition, (ii) the anticipated benefits of the acquisition and (iii) the timing of the proposed acquisition. The Company cautions that these statements are qualified by important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include the demand for the Company's products, the Company's growth opportunities, and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's reports filed with the SEC, including its Form 10-K Report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2006.

The Company assumes no obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Media Contact: Al Russo: (336) 548-8572

SOURCE Remington Arms Company, Inc.

[ebd10]

So is this the dawning of the age of the Japanese Marlin?

[Terry N.]

So is this the dawning of the age of the Japanese Marlin?

While I would hope not, Japanese would be preferable to Chinese. I think we all need to write to Remington and tell them not to muck up Marlin and NEF. One potential for good that might come out of this is an affordable, quality shotgun branded L.C. Smith. One can always hope.

[30378]

May not be spelling it corrctly but that makes 4 companies for Cerberus to buy out. Remington, Bushmaster, DPMS and now Marlin all owned by the same holding company. This cannot be good for shooters or the company employees.

[Dog Buster]

Better buy it now before Remington starts building them......

[gonzo gunner]

it really seems anymore that the big companies don't focus on producing quality products. they all seem to be more interested in buying out out bankrupting the other companies, while they sale the name of a wounce great company that has fallen baddly in the quality of the products they making.

[Redneck in IL]

Ya know, I've read loads of threads on this board about the "slipping of quality control" at Remington, but I've got Remingtons from the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and 2000's, and can't find a dimes worth of difference in their accuracy or almost anything else. The only differences I can find are 1. the blueing seems to have deteriorated over the years (so has everybody else's), and 2. the action aren't quite as smooth (once again, same as EVERYBODY else). Now, I don't have a Cerberus era rem yet, so the jury is still out. And I hated to see them put the Remington name on imported junk, but once again, everybody (except Ruger) is doing that as well. Also, Rem was owned by DuPont, another huge corporation for about 60 years, but that was the era that brought us the 870, 1100, 700, and a host of others, so maybe the Cerberus cash infusion will bring us more innovation, newer tooling, and higher QC. Seems nobody wants to talk about that, they'd rather trash Big Green. Got my Flame Suit on now.

[bcp]

The price just doubled on pre-08 Marlins.

:D

Bruce

[TinMan]

Just to keep the record straight, Remington was bought away from duPont in 1994 by CD&R, an investment banking firm. Cererbus recently (last year) bought Remington from CD&R. That makes them the second investment banking/private equity firm to own them. There will be cost cutting, but I doubt there will be a big cash infusion. However, at least Millner, the new CEO, is a gun fan, and not just a financial whiz. Don't forget, Cerberus is the group that "bought" Chrysler from Daimler-Benz, and they are now saying Chrysler is near bankrupt. I bet they have lots of places to spend whatever money they have left.

[Redneck in IL]

You are certainly right Tinman, CD&R did buy Rem in the early 90's. I was just making a point that them being owned by a large company may not be the total disaster that so many seem to be predicting. In my mind, the duPont era, which started in the 1930's, was a very good, very successful one. And maybe, maybe, we'll get another one.

After all, Savage nearly went under not so terribly long ago, and they brought in new management, cut costs, etc, etc, and now Savage is the preferred brand of a lot of folks here on this board. There's no reason that can't happen with Remington as well, but I'm not seeing that kind of attitude in most of these posts, I just see doom and gloom, and more rants on the "QC issues" at Remington that I've been reading about here for nearly three years, but have yet to witness personally. Like my first post said, I've got Remingtons from every decade since they came out, and I don't have one that won't at least shoot minute of angle and almost all do a lot better.