S&W buys Thompson Center....

[SSN Vet]

Monday, December 18, 2006
Thompson/Center Arms purchased by Smith & Wesson


ROCHESTER - Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation of Springfield, Mass., has purchased Thompson/Center Arms for $102 million in cash. The transaction is expected to close at the be-ginning of January 2007.

The formal announcement of an agreement for Smith & Wesson to purchase the 40-year-old Rochester company was made shortly before noon today.

Smith & Wesson executives were in the city for the announcement and were expected to address all Thompson/Center Arms employees at a gathering in the auditorium of Spaulding High School at 3 p.m.

Thompson/Center Arms is considered top designer, manufacturer and marketer of premium hunting firearms, best known for its black powder firearms.

 

[TrapperReady]

Expect a flintlock "Model 10" coming to dealers near you.

 

[Plink]

That's kind of sad news to me. T/C has always had the very best warrantee and customer service in the industry. Something I seriously doubt S&W will keep up.

 

[ID_shooting]

Does strike anyone else as being odd that they would hold the meeting in one of the places thier products are not permitted?

On the merger, I wonder if Contenders will not start comming with built in locks.

 

[Geno]

Oh no!

Here we go...I'll bet Remington can't wait to limit the capacity of the Contender and Encore to not more than 10 shots (tongue-in-cheek).

Doc2005

 

[Smith & Wesson Man]

I don't think you would have to worry about warrenty work with Smith I have never had a problem with anything of mine being sent back to them.

 

[arcticap]

Dream Sequence

S & W decides to start producing their own line of cap & ball revolvers!

 

[22-rimfire]

In the world of corporate mergers and buy outs, this seems like a good match. The TC product line is very different from the Smith line and it opens up new possibilities for Smith to broaden their horizons with a product that is generally considered as top notch in quality. The rifle or long gun market will be much more available to Smith with this acquisition. Using the TC name will remain a good thing, and the other black powder handgun possibilities open up too under the TC name.

 

[Plink]

After the S&W HUD agreement fiasco, and the long term damage it did to firearms rights in states like Maryland, I guess I won't be buying anymore new T/C's. That's a shame because T/C has always been one of my favorite companies to deal with. I was looking to get an Encore to go along with my Contender pistol. Oh well, T/C I'll miss you.

 

[Geno]

Did anyone hear of this in advance?

Perhaps I am simply not as-informed-as some, but I had never heard anything whatsoever about a pending sale of T/C to S&W. That strikes me odd.

Doc2005

 

[wanderinwalker]

I doubt this will affect either company much, other than giving S&W a means to access the long arms market. If anything, I think it should increase TC's financial backing, allowing them to explore other options (like the bolt action rifle announced recently).

We'll see how it shakes out.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Betcha anything it was for their line of single shot pistols/rifles and not the blackpowder line.