Yellen Asked to Probe Security Issues in Ammunition Maker's Sale
Source: Bloomberg
March 28, 2024 at 6:00 AM EDT
Representative Clay Higgins, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, has asked Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to thoroughly review national security concerns in the proposed sale of a US ammunition manufacturer to a firm based in the Czech Republic. The concerns involve the sale of Vista Outdoors ammunition business to the holding company Czechoslovak Group, or CSG, which Higgins said would weaken national security if the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, or Cfius, approves the sale.
The Louisiana Republican said in a letter that the sale of Vista Sporting Products to CSG would result in the firm controlling nearly 70% of production capacity for primers in the Western world. Primers are the component of a bullet that ignites the charge, sending the projectile down the barrel of a pistol or rifle.
CSG acquired a 70% stake in Italian ammunition manufacturer Fiocchi Munizioni in 2022. Higgins cited Vistas contracts to provide ammunition to the US Army, the FBI, the Secret Service, the Customs and Border Protection agency and local law enforcement agencies in his concerns about Vistas ammunition business being sold to a foreign company.
In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on March 4, Vista Outdoor, which also makes camping and sporting goods such as bike helmets and binoculars, disclosed that Cfius would need to clear the transaction. The company didnt respond to a request for comment on the Higgins letter after normal business hours.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-28/yellen-asked-to-probe-security-issues-in-ammunition-maker-s-sale