Many of you know Thermacell insect repellers from hunting. At OR, Thermacell just introcduced the new Backpacker model which uses a standard campuing gas cartridge rather than the proprietary butane cartridges used with their other repellers. The gas cartridge will provide 160 hours of 15′ X 15′ of odorless coverage from misquitos, black flies and noseeums. The repellent mats comes in two sizes, 4-hour and 12-hour.
Compass Diversified Holdings (NYSE: CODI) (“CODI” or the “Company”), an owner of leading middle market businesses, announced that on July 29, 2016, it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 5.11 Tactical® “5.11” for a purchase price of $400 million (excluding working capital and certain other adjustments upon closing). The acquisition is expected to close within the next 45 days, subject to customary closing conditions.
5.11 is a leading designer and marketer of purpose-built tactical apparel and gear serving a wide range of global customers including law enforcement, military special operations and firefighters, as well as outdoor enthusiasts. 5.11 is headquartered in Irvine, CA and operates international sales offices in Sweden, Mexico, Australia, China and UAE. For the trailing twelve months ended April 30, 2016, 5.11 reported net revenue of approximately $293 million and EBITDA of approximately $38 million. CODI expects to fund the purchase price through a draw on its revolving credit facility as well as exercising an accordion feature on its existing credit facility.
CODI’s initial equity ownership in 5.11 will be approximately 97.5%, and 5.11’s management team will also invest in the transaction alongside CODI. As part of the acquisition, CODI will acquire a substantial tax asset, the positive effect of which will be meaningful for CODI’s annual cash flow.
“5.11 represents a strong addition to our family of leading middle market businesses, and we welcome the opportunity to serve law enforcement, first responders, military personnel as well as the tactical consumer market,” said Alan Offenberg, CEO of Compass Diversified Holdings. “This company possesses the essential qualities that we seek in all our subsidiaries, including market share leadership, diverse revenue streams from a broad customer base and product portfolio, growing cash flows, a proven management team and compelling growth opportunities. We are enthusiastic about the company’s strong growth prospects and look forward to working with Tom Davin and his team to continue serving tactical professionals, and expanding 5.11’s consumer penetration globally.”
Mr. Offenberg added, “The acquisition of 5.11 will be immediately accretive to our shareholders and will further enhance our ability to continue to support our current cash distributions. We expect the acquisition to provide thirty to thirty-five cents per share of cash flow accretion to CODI on an annualized basis.”
Tom Davin, Chief Executive Officer of 5.11, and Francisco Morales, President will continue to serve in the same roles at the company. Mr. Davin commented, “At 5.11 our mission is to create purpose-built, functionally innovative tactical apparel and gear for the most demanding situations. CODI’s acquisition of 5.11 provides an excellent platform to further that mission. Our 5.11 leadership team is excited to leverage CODI’s considerable financial resources and track record of working with middle market growth companies.”
www.compassdiversifiedholdings.com/
The Clarus noise cancelling headset from Silynx Communications is well known in military and LE circles. Now, Silynx has introduced it to the civilian market. In addition to its ruggedized active (25 db) noise cancellation, you get military grade, waterproof control for your communications devices, including FRS radios and cellphones. The applications are myriad, CSAR, high noise vehicles, construction, cycling, etc.
The Clarus Pro comes in Black but they offer an option for dipping in various patterns.
Coming Spring 17, the infamous BAC in Tiki, a very nice Orange, to the commercial line.
If that doesn’t float your boat, there will also be Black, Grey and Navy.
This Metclaf Hunting Pack from MR features the new Guide Light frame which is 30% lighter than the NICE frame and is available now.
Starting Spring 2017, you’ll be able to get MR’s great hunting pack line in Desolve Camo which originated in New Zealand. Here, you can see the Bare variant. As you can see, it includes several different elements in the pattern. I’d say, they are going after OptiFade.
So far, only Hunter’s Element, a New Zealand brand, has announced clothing in the pattern.
So far this week, we’ve offered quite a few previews of new gear being exhibited at this year’s Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, here in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The doors just opened to the show and so begins our live coverage.
Skeleton Optics, an American-owned performance eyewear company producing innovative, high-performance sunglasses for outdoor enthusiasts, has announced a new partnership with MultiCam®, a leading developer of military-grade camouflage patterns. The partnership allows Skeleton Optics to use three unique MultiCam color patterns for its Special Edition frames, offering customers a choice of design-specific camouflage patterns for an enhanced outdoor experience.
The Skeleton Special Edition frames featuring MultiCam camouflage patterns will be offered on Skeleton’s popular DECOY frame style, which offers the perfect blending of style and performance. Color and pattern choices include the DECOY-MultiCam Alpine™ Edition, developed for snow-covered environments, the DECOY-MultiCam Black™ Edition, designed for law enforcement officers and high-risk environments, and the DECOY- original MultiCam Edition, developed for a wide range of environments. DECOY-MultiCam Special Edition sunglasses have a MSRP of $180.00 and are available for purchase at www.skeletonoptics.com.
According to Skeleton Optics President and CEO Mark Llano, a MultiCam brand ambassador and co-founder of SERKET Racing, a regular entry in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama, the partnership between Skeleton Optics and MultiCam offers Skeleton Optics a range of premium camouflage patterns that complement Skeleton’s flexible, Grilamid material frames. “We’re very excited about our partnership with MultiCam,” says Llano. “Leveraging MultiCam’s unique camo patterns with our technology-based designs offers our customers a superior line of sunglasses for any outdoor environment.”
Ernesto Rodriguez, Brand Manager at MultiCam, agrees, adding, “This is indeed a great fit for both MultiCam and Skeleton Optics. Their innovative lens and frame designs give us a terrific platform for extending our brand into the premium sunglass category.”
With the launch of the Special Edition DECOY MultiCam frames, Skeleton Optics continues its pursuit of the finest, high-quality materials. For lens technology, this includes polarized lenses with Tri-Pel technology, manufactured by Carl Zeiss Vision – the recognized world leader in optical technology – while the handcrafted frames are designed and manufactured in Italy.
See more of what you’ve been missing at www.skeletonoptics.com.
Many of you are familiar with the Helio Pressure Washer from NEMO Equipment. At the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market which begins today, NEMO will unveil their new LX version which doubles the original model’s 11 liter capacity to 22 liters. They’ve also increased the pressure by 20%.
