{"id":2249,"date":"2016-10-07T08:02:01","date_gmt":"2016-10-07T15:02:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/outdoor-giant-bass-pro-to-acquire-rival-cabelas-for-4-5b\/"},"modified":"2016-10-07T08:02:01","modified_gmt":"2016-10-07T15:02:01","slug":"outdoor-giant-bass-pro-to-acquire-rival-cabelas-for-4-5b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/life\/outdoor-giant-bass-pro-to-acquire-rival-cabelas-for-4-5b\/","title":{"rendered":"Outdoor giant Bass Pro to acquire rival Cabela’s for $4.5B"},"content":{"rendered":"

OMAHA, Neb. \u2014 <\/strong>Outdoor gear giant Bass Pro is snapping up rival Cabela\u2019s in a $4.5 billion deal announced Monday.<\/p>\n

Bass Pro is paying Cabela\u2019s shareholders $65.50 cash per share, a 19 percent premium to Friday\u2019s closing price. The companies valued the deal at $5.5 billion, which includes debt. The deal combines two companies known for their giant destination superstores.<\/p>\n

It also creates uncertainty about jobs in Cabela\u2019s home state of Nebraska. The combined companies plan to keep some operations in Sidney and Lincoln, Nebraska, but it\u2019s not immediately clear how many jobs might be lost.<\/p>\n

Cabela\u2019s employs about 2,000 people in the western Nebraska town of Sidney, which has about 7,000 residents. State Sen. Ken Schilz, who represents the area, said the deal is concerning because of the duplication between the two companies\u2019 headquarters that will be eliminated.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll just have to wait and see what Bass Pro does. I\u2019m sure most folks in Sidney are pretty nervous this morning,\u201d Schilz said.<\/p>\n

Activist investment firm Elliott Management began pushing for significant changes at Cabela\u2019s last fall. Elliott owns 7.4 percent of Cabela\u2019s shares and holds options to buy another 3.8 percent.<\/p>\n

A sale of the Cabela\u2019s has been a distinct possibility ever since the company announced a review of its strategic options last December, but many in Sidney weren\u2019t ready to believe it could happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just trying to absorb it right now,\u201d said Denise Wilkinson, president of the Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce. \u201cWe just never knew what would happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bass Pro founder and CEO Johnny Morris said he hopes to continue growing the Cabela\u2019s brand alongside his privately-held Springfield, Missouri, based chain.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe story of each of these companies could only have happened in America, made possible by our uniquely American free enterprise system,\u201d Morris said. \u201cWe have enormous admiration for Cabela\u2019s, its founders and outfitters, and its loyal base of customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Capital One will take over running Cabela\u2019s credit card unit as part of the deal, which is backed by $1.8 billion in financing from Goldman Sachs and another $600 million from private equity fund Pamplona Capital.<\/p>\n

Cabela\u2019s was founded in 1961 when Dick Cabela started selling fishing flies through the mail from his kitchen table with his wife, Mary, and brother, Jim. It now has 85 retail stores primarily in the western U.S. and Canada.<\/p>\n

Bass Pro got its start in 1971 when Morris began selling high-quality fishing tackle in his dad\u2019s liquor store in Springfield, Missouri.<\/p>\n

Morris developed a following in the Ozarks region \u2014 its lakes and rich streams a haven for anglers \u2014 created the Bass Pro Shop Catalog in 1974 and opened the first of his now 99 stores in Springfield seven years later. Bass Pro\u2019s stores are mostly in the eastern United States and Canada.<\/p>\n

Morris also introduced the Bass Tracker fishing boat in 1978 that was designed specifically for fishermen. That led to the creation of the White River Marine Group.<\/p>\n

Nebraska politicians are encouraging Bass Pro to maintain significant operations in the state after the deal closes sometime in the first half of next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know from personal experience that when you hire Nebraskans you get individuals who are well-educated, have a great work-ethic, and will make your company succeed,\u201d said Gov. Pete Ricketts, the former TD Ameritrade executive.<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith said Cabela\u2019s has long been \u201ca cornerstone of western Nebraska\u2019s economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cabela\u2019s shares climbed $8.19, or 14.9 percent, to $63.12 in afternoon trading Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OMAHA, Neb. \u2014 Outdoor gear giant Bass Pro is snapping up rival Cabela\u2019s in a $4.5 billion deal announced Monday. Bass Pro is paying Cabela\u2019s shareholders $65.50 cash per share, a 19 percent premium to Friday\u2019s closing price. The companies valued the deal at $5.5 billion, which includes debt. The deal combines two companies known […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":2250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":7,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[149],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-2249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","tag-outdoors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2249"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=2249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}