Eversheds Sutherland advises on the sale of Sofisport to FN Browning Group

A family-owned French company with historical know-how dating back to the 19th century, Sofisport is headquartered in Paris and employs a total of 1,000 people at fifteen active sites in France, Italy, Spain, the UK and Canada. Its subsidiaries, including Nobel Sport, Cheddite and Sofiam, specialize in the manufacture of ammunition and the production of components including powders, shotshell cases and primers.

The buyer, FN Browning Group, is owned by the Walloon Region, part of the Belgian federal state. It designs and manufactures world-renowned small arms, ammunition and innovative weapon systems. The group markets the FN and Noptel brands, dedicated to its Security & Defense division, and the Browning and Winchester* brands for its Hunting & Shooting activities. Based in Herstal (Liège) since its foundation in 1889, FN Browning Group employs over 3,000 people and has seven production sites in Belgium, Portugal, Finland, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Based on a strong industrial, geographic and cultural complementarity, this major transaction is now duly completed. It enables the new group to offer a fully integrated product portfolio while consolidating its industrial footprint in nine NATO countries and six EU countries, in the highly competitive small arms and ammunition sector. With this acquisition, FN Browning Group now employs 4,100 people worldwide at more than 25 industrial, commercial, and administrative sites.

The Eversheds Sutherland team advised the sellers with Jean-Robert Bousquet (partner), Victor Grillo (senior associate) and Emma Ashburn (associate) on corporate/M&A aspects. The sellers were also advised on competition law aspects by Freshfields with Jérôme Philippe (partner) and Basile Marin (associate), and on tax law aspects by CMS Francis Lefebvre with Jean-Hugues de la Berge (partner) and Lucie Blancal (associate).

The buyer was advised by Jones Day, with a team including Audrey Bontemps (partner), Aurélie Camard (counsel) and Antoine Moulin (associate) for corporate/M&A aspects, Alexandre Verheyden (partner) for competition law aspects and Nicolas André (partner) for tax law aspects.

Capitalmind Investec acted as financial advisor to the sellers, with a team including Kilian de Gourcuff (partner), Thibault Bazillon and Louis Le Clec'h.

BNP Paribas Fortis acted as financial advisor to the buyer, with a team composed of Olivier Limage, Filippo Boeri Erba, Martin Cattoir, Robin Lourme, Philip Wellens, Edouard Farrero and Tristan Bruynsteen.

*Winchester is a registered trademark of Olin Corporation.