The Czech investment group RSBC bought the Austrian arms company Steyr Arms, taking over 100 percent of the company from SMH Holding, which controlled the company since 2007, Hospodářské noviny reported. Neither party has stated the price of the deal, according to market estimates, it is lower than billions of crowns.
The Austrian rifle manufacturer with a history of more than 150 years has more than 200 employees in plants in Austria and the USA, in addition to hunting weapons, it also produces assault rifles for the police and the military. Its products are used in the armaments of the armies and police of many countries, in 2023 it generated over 45 million euros, i.e. roughly 1.13 billion crowns.
The acquired enterprise will be integrated by the RSBC group into the newly emerging arms holding. In addition to the Austrian brand, it will also include the Slovenian manufacturer of pistols and other weapons equipment Arex, which the RSBC group bought in 2017. The new holding will be led by German manager Tim Castagne, the current CEO of Arex, who previously worked for several years at the optics manufacturer Carl Zeiss or the German armorer JP Sauer & Sohn.
“The primary goal of the acquisition was to expand the product portfolio with top globally known products. Arex and Steyr Arms are not competing products, they are complementary. Natural synergies are offered in business, manufacturing and product development. At Arex, we managed to create quality and experienced international management. Within a few years, he moved Arex from a primarily local supplier to a manufacturer with a reach from North America to Southeast Asia,” said Milan Šlapák, CEO of the RSBC Group.
According to him, the group will finance the acquisition with a combination of own funds, bank financing and investor funds. In 2022, the RSBC group established an investment fund for qualified investors RSBC SICAV and a sub-fund RSBC Defence, which is to focus precisely on assets from the defense industry. According to Šlapák, the ambition is to reach the market value of the assets of the armaments fund in the coming years of around one billion euros.
Šlapák became the CEO of the RSBC Group last February, when he replaced Robert Schönfeld, who founded RSBC in 1998 and managed it for almost 25 years. Now, he mainly focuses on strategic direction and philanthropic activities in the company.
The RSBC Group operates in six European countries and manages assets with a market value of eight billion crowns. The basis of the portfolio of the Czech investment group RSBC is residential and commercial real estate, fertile land, real estate funds, and industrial and agricultural companies. The group was originally founded to manage the restituted assets of the Schönfeld family. Around 35 companies are currently part of the RSBC group.
Tags: RSBC bought Austrian rifle manufacturer
