Colt/CZ merger a done deal?

[Commader47]

Well, looks like barring any opposition, the Coltl/CZ merger is a done deal in the second quarter this year. .

The deal consists of a CASH purchase of all Colt assets and Colt Canada for 221 million. CZ will also offer over 1 million shares of stock in the new CZColt.

The combined worth of the merged companies is in excess of 600 million.

CZ was totally upfront about buying Colt. They want to take advantage of the contacts and deep ties to the American military over the past 175 years.

This deal makes CZColt a gigantic powerhouse of the arms industry. Possibly the biggest. There are a few take-aways about this deal that can't be ignored:

1. CZ has the assets to pay CASH
2. CZColt plans a full court press to make weapons for the US military
3. The new company has assets that make it a juggernaut of manufacturing.

 

[armoredman]

Yes it is a done deal. Really excited to see what comes out of this one.

 

[hso]

Yup

 

[CapnMac]

2. CZColt plans a full court press to make weapons for the US military

Colt (USA) has several ongoing foreign military orders already in place. Dimarco (Colt Canada) has ongoing contracts with the Canadian Forces, and some overseas military contracts as well.

I'll wager that the Czech will be able to expand on those strengths, and capitalize on the market expansion that entails, too.
Hodně štěstí a štěstí.

 

[If1HitU]

What are CZ keeping and not keeping of Colt's products?

 

[BCR#1]

Good luck trying to take away the contract FN has for most small arms used by the US military.

Bill

 

[reddog81]

What are CZ keeping and not keeping of Colt's products?

Way too soon for anything but speculation, but it’s not like Colt has a wide aray of products. They got 1911’s, AR’s and a few revolvers. I’m guessing CZ will focus on expanding the lineup rather than cutting products.

 

[gnappi]

Maybe the new guns will be called something flashy like... Zolt

 

[Old Dog]

Way too soon for anything but speculation, but it’s not like Colt has a wide aray of products. They got 1911’s, AR’s and a few revolvers.

I've seen this line of thinking brought up before; it almost seems like criticism of the company. Why would they need to "expand the line-up?" I'd rather see a company with a narrower focus that makes a few products well than a company (no names will be mentioned) that's all over the map, constantly introducing the latest ugly, unasked-for and unnecessary new gun, with a bewildering array of garbage and suspect quality control.

 

[Speedo66]

I'm sure the products will be fine, but I can't help but feel a little disappointed that an American icon like Colt is now in foreign hands.

From a security standpoint, if they do get US military contracts, they will be held by a company based in a former Soviet bloc country.

 

[CapnMac]

What are CZ keeping and not keeping of Colt's products?

Still, far, far too early to even guess.
The ink is dry, but the deal still has to be approved by both nations' governments, because of the number of international contracts involved by both sides.
The people in charge will have to look at all the product lines, and the current contracts, and where there's overlap (or not).
CZ is now producing a huge quantity of D-4 carbines under foreign military & police contract; by extension they are all now selling contracts for both M-16 and M-4 to foreign military & police as well (and various versions of LE692x variants, too).

Now, for 2¢ I'll wager CZ would love to be able to offer a Colt-branded SAA to compete with the various Italian makers in the middling-hot European market. Maybe. Perhaps. YMMV.
There's also a thriving BP community in Europe, and there are those who might pay a premium for a Patterson, or Dragoon, with an actual Colt logo on it, rather than an Italian rollmark. Maybe. Perhaps. YMMV.

 

[Mark1964]

I've seen this line of thinking brought up before; it almost seems like criticism of the company. Why would they need to "expand the line-up?" I'd rather see a company with a narrower focus that makes a few products well than a company (no names will be mentioned) that's all over the map, constantly introducing the latest ugly, unasked-for and unnecessary new gun, with a bewildering array of garbage and suspect quality control.

How'd that work out for Colt?
One of the reasons it ended up nearly toes up and on the market in the first place was failure to diversify. It banked entirely too much on the M16/AR15 and the 1911.
By the time FN and H&K grabbed big shares of the US and international military markets for M16 pattern rifles, the fat lady was more than warmed up.
Glock, Sig, S&W and Ruger innovated and prospered; Colt fell by the wayside.

 

[CraigC]

Colt has been losing contracts in recent years. So maybe this will be a boon for their military side. On the civilian side, we may see Colt's existing products, which are excellent, return to full availability on gun shop shelves with no reduction in quality.

Possibly the biggest.

Big but not that big. Far from it. About half the net worth of Ruger and much smaller than FN Herstal.

 

[gnappi]

How'd that work out for Colt?
One of the reasons it ended up nearly toes up and on the market in the first place was failure to diversify. It banked entirely too much on the M16/AR15 and the 1911.
By the time FN and H&K grabbed big shares of the US and international military markets for M16 pattern rifles, the fat lady was more than warmed up.
Glock, Sig, S&W and Ruger innovated and prospered; Colt fell by the wayside.

Agreed on all points, but in a way, Colt may be a victim of their own success with the AR an 1911 platforms which became their cash cows.

The few toe dips into expanding the line with the Colt 2000, Double eagle, and Mustang, all types arguably done better and less expensive by others.

We'll see, maybe if there's excess production at Colt they can turn the DWX into real steel from vaporware

 

[river1899]

Wow had no idea this was happening

 

[Old Dog]

How'd that work out for Colt?
One of the reasons it ended up nearly toes up and on the market in the first place was failure to diversify. It banked entirely too much on the M16/AR15 and the 1911.
By the time FN and H&K grabbed big shares of the US and international military markets for M16 pattern rifles, the fat lady was more than warmed up.
Glock, Sig, S&W and Ruger innovated and prospered; Colt fell by the wayside.

Eh, loss of market share with regard to loss of military contracts was only one factor. Horrific mismanagement at the top was a primary factor; not paying off debt and then going on further borrowing sprees over the course of multiple ownerships and CEOs along with not deciding which was the company's primary market, military or civilian, led to the inevitable result any neophyte student of business management could see coming. It was not all about the products.

 

[JeeperCreeper]

Stock options? Is that what OP said??

 

[jamesinalaska]

I told you Colt was going away. A year ago I said it.

1) They were having numerous quality control problems, to the point where patrons felt like they were taking a chance when they laid their money down. NOT GOOD!

2) Customer service was bad and grew worse. I HOPE YOU'RE LISTENING, ED BROWN.

3) ZERO INNOVATION. Slapping an old, but respected name onto a new product (hence the new cobras and such) is not innovation, it's a ploy and only carries so far.

Goodbye, Colt. You Suck.

 

[Old Dog]

Gosh, James, how do you really feel?

I have two new Cobras and a King Cobra. They're as good revolvers as any ever made. By all accounts, the "new Python" is better than the old Python.

I own several Colt 1911s, made over a span from the early '70s to 2018. They're as good 1911s as any ever made.

You wanna say goodbye to Colt? Okay, (as the bar girls in Olongapo city used to say), bye-bye you. You didn't add anything to the thread.

 

[armoredman]

...You wanna say goodbye to Colt? Okay, (as the bar girls in Olongapo city used to say), bye-bye you...

All I can remember is "You pay my bar fine? You got girlfriend in the PI? I be your girlfriend, pay my bar fine."
After that I don't really remember much except puking on the fountain on Magsaysay.
Back to the thread - CZ is going to leave Colt where they are and most management in place, not sure what measures are going to be done, but hopefully tooling and dies will be imported/manufactured for the popular CZ models here in the US. I am REALLY interested as to what will be coming out, the possibilities are hugely interesting!

 

[CraigC]

I told you Colt was going away. A year ago I said it.

1) They were having numerous quality control problems, to the point where patrons felt like they were taking a chance when they laid their money down. NOT GOOD!

2) Customer service was bad and grew worse. I HOPE YOU'RE LISTENING, ED BROWN.

3) ZERO INNOVATION. Slapping an old, but respected name onto a new product (hence the new cobras and such) is not innovation, it's a ploy and only carries so far.

Goodbye, Colt. You Suck.

Uh, except they're not going away. I guess you were wrong a year ago.

 

[CapnMac]

Stock options? Is that what OP said??

CZ fronted actual cash and some quantity of the balance in CZ stock

 

[BigBL87]

With Dan Wesson (also owned by CZ) having discontinued their revolvers, I wonder if Colt revolvers will get a big push as it does fill a hole in the CZ lineup.

Restarting civilian AR sales might make sense too, as CZ does sell an MSR in the form of the CZ Scorpion but they don't have an AR platform rifle to my knowledge.

I can't imagine Colt 1911s going away, could probably be pushed as a cheaper-but-still-good alternative to the "premium" Dan Wesson line if they wanted to do that.

So really, I think Colt's lineup fits really well into CZ's portfolio without much change. I'm really interested to see the government contract repercussions. CZ is pretty universally well regarded, but one big missing cog has been US police/military contracts (though they do have some international ones, obviously). If they could shoehorn their way into military/law enforcement in the US, that would be HUGE.

 

[CapnMac]

When considering the expanded product line, we have to remember Diemaco (I apparently have been misspelling this) whic his doing business as Colt Canada.
Here's a peak at their product line (remember that this is a separate business operation, with its own production lines)
https://www.coltcanada.com/
So, imagine being able to get a C19 (the new RCMP Ranger rifle) without having to pay Sako prices.

Now, Colt Canada was not producing handguns, so, CZ gets an entire infrastructure to sell handguns in Canada.

 

[Mk VII]

Just as large numbers of guns look like being banned in Canada.