Bass Pro and Utah retailer Sportsman's Warehouse cancel $785 million merger

Gregory J. Holman, Springfield News-Leader
·1 min read
A Sportsman's Warehouse Inc. location in New York state is shown Aug. 31, 2020. A big merger deal with Bass Pro was canceled on Dec. 2, 2021, a federal filing stated.
A Sportsman's Warehouse Inc. location in New York state is shown Aug. 31, 2020. A big merger deal with Bass Pro was canceled on Dec. 2, 2021, a federal filing stated.

Nearly a year after Bass Pro entered into a merger agreement with Utah-based Sportsman's Warehouse Holdings Inc., the deal is off, according to a federal filing dated Dec. 2 by Sportsman's Warehouse.

Bass Pro's parent company Great Outdoors LLC will pay Sportsman's Warehouse $55 million to terminate the merger, according to Sportsman's filing with the Security and Exchange Commission.

The filing stated that feedback from the Federal Trade Commission led both companies to believe that the deal would not get FTC approval.

Springfield Business Journal reported earlier that the scuttled transaction would have been worth $785 million and would have added roughly 110 retail stores to Bass Pro's lineup.

Previously: Bass Pro Shops founder and owner Johnny Morris inducted into Hall of Famous Missourians

Bass Pro has 170 stores, according to its website. In 2021, it bought Hatteras Yachts and planned to spend $34 million upgrading its North Carolina plant, as the News-Leader reported earlier. In 2017, it paid more than $4 billion for rival retailer Cabela's.

The News-Leader reached out to two Bass Pro spokespeople by phone and email on Monday but did not immediately hear back.

Reach News-Leader reporter Gregory Holman by emailing gholman@gannett.com. Please consider subscribing to support vital local journalism.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Bass Pro and Sportsman's Warehouse cancel $785 million merger