Glenn E. Meyer
New member
Sunday, January 2, 2000
Tomkins to Sell Smith & Wesson - Paper
LONDON--British-based "guns-to-buns" conglomerate Tomkins Plc has
decided to sell its U.S. hand gun maker Smith & Wesson, the Financial Mail
on Sunday newspaper reported.
Citing sources close to the company, the newspaper said the sale could raise
as much as 100 million pounds ($160 million).
Tomkins' plans to sell Smith & Wesson would follow news late last year of a
possible sale by BAE SYSTEMS Plc of German small arms maker Heckler & Koch
to U.S. gun-maker Colt for about $100 million.
Smith & Wesson, one of the oldest and most well-known small arms makers in
the world, is the "guns" part of the conglomerate that includes a car parts
manufacturer and a bread-maker.
Tomkins' share price plummeted last year -- all in all 29 percent and
underperformed the FTSE by 42 percent -- prompting Tomkins to announce in
July it would demerge early this year its European food operations, which
include Hovis breads, Bisto gravy, Mr. Kipling cakes and Robertson's jam.
Tomkins said then it wanted to focus on its industrial and automotive
operations.
But the Financial Mail said the prospect of class action lawsuits against
gun-makers in the United States could block any sale of Smith & Wesson.
"Tomkins will (sell Smith & Wesson) if it can, but until the lawsuits are
settled, it may be difficult to sell," the source close to Tomkins was
quoted as saying.
The Clinton administration said in early December it would file a class
action lawsuit against the gun industry in 2000 unless manufacturers agreed
to make major changes in the way they market and distribute guns.
Administration officials said the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) is readying a lawsuit on behalf of 3,200 public housing
authorities around the country to recover the costs associated with gun
violence, estimated at around $1 billion a year.
Twenty-eight cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco,
already have sued makers of handguns to get reimbursement for municipal
spending related to gun violence -- on police and emergency medical
services, for example.
The 144 year-old Smith & Wesson company is seen as one of those most at risk
of having to pay damages from the law suits because it makes large numbers
of hand guns, some of which find their way into the hands of criminals who
kill close to 100 people in the United States every year.
http://www.latimes.com/wires/20000102/tCB00a0434.html
So the suit seem to be working. Has there been
an serious concerted action by pro-gun folks in Congress to do anything?
Tomkins to Sell Smith & Wesson - Paper
LONDON--British-based "guns-to-buns" conglomerate Tomkins Plc has
decided to sell its U.S. hand gun maker Smith & Wesson, the Financial Mail
on Sunday newspaper reported.
Citing sources close to the company, the newspaper said the sale could raise
as much as 100 million pounds ($160 million).
Tomkins' plans to sell Smith & Wesson would follow news late last year of a
possible sale by BAE SYSTEMS Plc of German small arms maker Heckler & Koch
to U.S. gun-maker Colt for about $100 million.
Smith & Wesson, one of the oldest and most well-known small arms makers in
the world, is the "guns" part of the conglomerate that includes a car parts
manufacturer and a bread-maker.
Tomkins' share price plummeted last year -- all in all 29 percent and
underperformed the FTSE by 42 percent -- prompting Tomkins to announce in
July it would demerge early this year its European food operations, which
include Hovis breads, Bisto gravy, Mr. Kipling cakes and Robertson's jam.
Tomkins said then it wanted to focus on its industrial and automotive
operations.
But the Financial Mail said the prospect of class action lawsuits against
gun-makers in the United States could block any sale of Smith & Wesson.
"Tomkins will (sell Smith & Wesson) if it can, but until the lawsuits are
settled, it may be difficult to sell," the source close to Tomkins was
quoted as saying.
The Clinton administration said in early December it would file a class
action lawsuit against the gun industry in 2000 unless manufacturers agreed
to make major changes in the way they market and distribute guns.
Administration officials said the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) is readying a lawsuit on behalf of 3,200 public housing
authorities around the country to recover the costs associated with gun
violence, estimated at around $1 billion a year.
Twenty-eight cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco,
already have sued makers of handguns to get reimbursement for municipal
spending related to gun violence -- on police and emergency medical
services, for example.
The 144 year-old Smith & Wesson company is seen as one of those most at risk
of having to pay damages from the law suits because it makes large numbers
of hand guns, some of which find their way into the hands of criminals who
kill close to 100 people in the United States every year.
http://www.latimes.com/wires/20000102/tCB00a0434.html
So the suit seem to be working. Has there been
an serious concerted action by pro-gun folks in Congress to do anything?