American Outdoor Brands, Inc., formerly known as Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation until 2016, is an American manufacturer of

outdoor sports Outdoor recreation or outdoor activity refers to recreation done outside, most commonly in natural settings. The activities that encompass outdoor recreation vary depending on the physical environment they are being carried out in. These activiti ...

and recreation products, with a current 18 brands of outdoor equipment. Until 2020, it owned

Smith & Wesson Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American firearm manufacturer headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the "Smith & Wesson Revolver Company" in 1856 ...

firearms, when American Outdoor Brands was spun out, partly due a changing

political climate The political climate is the aggregate mood and opinions of a political society at a particular time. It is generally used to describe when the state of mood and opinion is changing or unstable. The phrase has origins from both ancient Greece and ...

. Its headquarters is located in Columbia, Missouri.

History

On May 11, 2001, Saf-T-Hammer Corporation acquired Smith & Wesson Corporation from

Tomkins plc Tomkins plc was a multinational engineering company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. In July 2010 Tomkins was acquired by a Canadian consortium of private equity firm Onex Corporation and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. In ...

for US$15 million. Saf-T-Hammer assumed US$30 million in debt, bringing the total purchase price to US$45 million. Saf-T-Hammer, a manufacturer of firearms locks and other safety products, purchased the company with the intention of incorporating its line of security products into all Smith & Wesson firearms in compliance with the 2000 agreement. On February 15, 2002, the name of the newly formed entity was changed to Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation. Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation announced in December 2014 that it was paying $130.5 million for Battenfeld Technologies, a Columbia, Missouri-based designer and distributor of hunting and shooting accessories. The company made the acquisition with the eventual intent to merge all its existing Smith & Wesson, M&P and

Thompson Center Arms Thompson/Center Arms was an American firearms company based in Springfield, Massachusetts. The company was best known for its line of interchangeable-barrel, single-shot pistols and rifles. Thompson/Center also manufactures muzzle-loading rifl ...

accessories into a single division. In August 2016, Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation bought Crimson Trace, a laser-sight manufacturer, for $95 million and Taylor Brands, a tool and knife maker, for $85 million. In November of that same year, the company bought UST Brands, a survival equipment maker, for $32.3 million. The company had diversified from firearms into sporting goods and outdoor gear, the rugged outdoors business being a larger market than firearms, in hopes of insulating Smith & Wesson from the stock price volatility caused by the unpredictability of the gun business. This culminated in the decision to change the company's name, and on November 7, 2016, Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation announced that it would change its name to

American Outdoor Brands Corporation American Outdoor Brands, Inc., formerly known as Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation until 2016, is an American manufacturer of outdoor sports and recreation products, with a current 18 brands of outdoor equipment. Until 2020, it owned Smith & Wess ...

. The name change took effect on the first business day of 2017. The change occurred at a time when the firearms industry was receiving backlash over gun violence in America, and so was also seen as an attempt to disassociate itself from the negative repercussions surrounding the issue. In 2017, firearms accounted for 86% of American Outdoor Brands's revenues, and the company shipped 420,000

long gun A long gun is a category of firearms with long barrels. In small arms, a ''long gun'' or longarm is generally designed to be held by both hands and braced against the shoulder, in contrast to a handgun, which can be fired being held with a single ...

s. American Outdoor Brands also owns Battenfeld Technologies,

Taylor Brands Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to: People * Taylor (surname) **List of people with surname Taylor * Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah * Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron * Justice Taylor (disambiguation) Pl ...

(a knife and tool maker bought in August 2016 for $95 million), and Crimson Trace (an electro-optics business which it bought in August 2016 for $85 million). On November 13, 2019, American Outdoor Brands Corp. said it would split into two companies: Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc., which would retain gun sales, and American Outdoor Brands, Inc. The transaction was expected to be finalized in the second half of 2020. The company cited changes in political climate and economic, investing and insurance markets. In January 2020, American Outdoor Brands replaced CEO P. James Debney following allegations of misconduct. The company named Mark Smith and Brian Murphy as joint CEOs. On 24 August 2020, the company was spun-off from Smith & Wesson, with S&W retaining the original stock ticker SWBI and American Outdoor Brands becoming a new publicly-traded company on the NASDAQ as American Outdoor Brands, Inc. On March 11, 2022, American Outdoor Brands announced that it entered into an agreement to purchase grill brand Grilla Grills.

References

External links

* {{authority control American companies established in 1992 Companies listed on the Nasdaq Electronics companies of the United States Firearm manufacturers of the United States Holding companies of the United States Manufacturing companies established in 1992 Outdoor recreation in the United States Weapons manufacturing companies Companies based in Columbia, Missouri