Smith & Wesson buys Crimson Trace for $95 million

Smith & Wesson completed the $95 million purchase of Crimson Trace on Monday, expanding the gun maker’s empire further into outdoor and shooting sports products.

With the purchase, the Connecticut-based Smith & Wesson segmented itself into four divisions: guns, accessories, outdoor goods and now electro-optics. The latter meaning firearm sighting systems with an electrical component.

The two companies entered into the agreement at the end of July. Crimson Trace, which offers hundreds of products for dozens of firearm brands, will continue to operate in Wilsonville, Oregon.

Crimson Trace has generated a 10-year compound annual revenue growth rate in excess of 10 percent and for the past 12 months raked in $44 million in revenue.

Debney explained the purchase was part of Smith & Wesson’s ongoing strategy for expansion and broaden its offerings that cover other aspects of shooting and outdoor goods.

Valued at $60 billion, the broader outdoor-sporting goods market is roughly four times larger than the U.S. gun industry. Adding an electro-optic division splits the company into four operating groups, which also includes firearms, accessories and outdoor goods.

The accessories division, formally established in April but in the works after acquiring Battenfeld Technologies in December 2014, brought in an extra $65.3 million in revenue.

Partly thanks to the accessory wing, Smith & Wesson increased annual revenue by 31 percent, bringing the total to $722.9 million by the end of FY2016.

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