Remington deal to give lenders control
Remington Outdoor Co. is planning to file for bankruptcy protection after reaching a deal with lenders that gives them ownership of the firearms-maker.
A prepackaged reorganization will be filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, according to a statement from Remington, which is controlled by Stephen Feinberg's Cerberus Capital Management.
Holders of the gun-maker's $550 million term loan will take an 82.5 percent equity stake in Remington while third-lien noteholders get 17.5 percent of the company and four-year warrants for a 15 percent stake, according to Remington. Creditors will also provide a $100 million debtor-in-possession loan to finance operations throughout the bankruptcy proceedings.
The company has a large ammunition plant in Lonoke.
Remington's fortunes took a hit along with those of other gun-makers after the election of President Donald Trump, a self-proclaimed "true friend" of the gun industry. Democrat Hillary Clinton's election defeat meant customers became less worried about losing access to weapons. Sales plummeted, and retailers stopped re-ordering as they found themselves stuffed with unsold inventory they had built up in anticipation of a Clinton presidency.
-- Bloomberg News
Regulation cuts said to have little effect
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump's deregulation agenda for industry has had a limited effect on the job market and capital spending during his first year in office, according to Goldman Sachs.
A study by the bank found little evidence that "non-financial deregulation has had meaningful macroeconomic impact to date," according to research report released Sunday that analyzed commentary from equity analysts, economic data and post-election stock returns.
The findings aren't surprising, the bank said. Rolling back regulations can be a "slow and difficult" task, regulations don't impose that high of a cost, and state and local actors are often responsible for red tape that really make a difference, according to Goldman Sachs.
"We find no evidence that employment or capital spending accelerated more after the election in areas where regulatory burdens are higher," it said.
-- Bloomberg News
Hedge fund to pay $76M in Madoff fraud
An Austrian hedge fund that helped direct investments from abroad into Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme agreed to pay $76.5 million to victims of the fraud in a settlement with the trustee who is unwinding the con man's firm.
Trustee Irving Picard said Monday that he reached the deal with Alpha Prime Fund, which is domiciled in Bermuda and managed in Austria. The settlement brings the total recovered by Picard to $12.8 billion. More than $10 billion has been distributed to victims of Madoff's fraud, while some money has been set aside pending resolution of lawsuits by victims seeking more cash than the trustee says they're entitled to.
Alpha Prime Fund was one of several hedge funds that combined to feed almost $4 billion into Madoff's scheme by way of Austrian banker Sonja Kohn and Bank Medici AG, according to a complaint filed by the trustee in December 2010 in Manhattan, N.Y., bankruptcy court.
Madoff pleaded guilty in 2009 and was sentenced to 150 years in prison for orchestrating the Ponzi scheme.
-- Bloomberg News
Defense contractor to acquire IT firm
General Dynamics Corp., the maker of Abrams tanks and nuclear submarines, is making a record bet on reinvigorating its information-technology business.
The U.S. defense contractor agreed to buy CSRA Inc. for about $6.8 billion to expand its computer-services offerings for government agencies and military customers. CSRA holders will receive $40.75 a share in cash, General Dynamics said in a statement Monday, a 32 percent premium over the closing price at the end of last week.
The acquisition will make General Dynamics the No. 2 provider of federal information technology services, trailing only Leidos Holdings Inc.
-- Bloomberg News
N.J. judges uphold Exxon settlement
TRENTON, N.J. -- A New Jersey appeals court on Monday turned down a request from environmental groups and a former state senator to undo a $225 million pollution settlement between the state and Exxon Mobil.
Appellate Division Judge Carmen Messano, writing on behalf of the three-judge panel, said the trial judge had not made a mistake in judgment when he approved the deal in 2015. The ruling means that the environmental groups and former state Sen. Raymond Lesniak have -- for now -- failed in their effort to tear up a 2015 agreement between Republican Gov. Chris Christie's administration and the Texas petroleum company.
The groups and Lesniak instead wanted the state to extract more money from Exxon, reflecting the $8.9 billion that the state had earlier estimated it was owed.
The state's legal fight against Exxon dates to 2004, when New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection brought a suit against Exxon over decades of pollution at two oil refineries in Bayonne and Linden.
-- The Associated Press
Business on 02/13/2018