The parent of Remington Arms—which was the subject of a CNBC documentary that first aired in October—is abandoning plans for an initial public offering of its stock, CNBC has learned.
Gun Trigger
The disclosure comes in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commissionby Remington parent Freedom Group. The company—which is owned by the private equity firm Cerberus—gives no reason for the change.
A spokesman for Freedom Group did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for a comment.
The documentary—"Remington Under Fire: a CNBC Investigation"—examined allegations that for decades, Remington hid information about safety issues involving its signature product, the Remington 700 series bolt action rifle.
Hundreds of injuries and at least two dozen deaths have been linked to an alleged design flaw that can cause the rifle to fire without the trigger being pulled. Remington disputes the report, insists the rifle is safe, and says the accidents CNBC cited were all the result of poor maintenence, unsafe handling or improper alteration of the gun by its users.
Freedom Group—a collection of about a dozen gun manufacturers with Remington being the largest—had announced plans in October of 2009 to go public.
But the company’s firearm sales plunged last year—down 24 percent according to Freedom Group’s latest annual report.
It also didn't help that the market for initial public offerings was sluggish for most of last year. That IPO market has rebounded, but not enough, apparently, for Freedom Group.
