History
Tasco was founded by George Rosenfield in 1954. In March 1996, Rosenfield sold the business. At that time, Tasco employed 160 people at its Florida headquarters, and maintained a location in the state of Washington, which employed another 40.[1]
In June 1998, Tasco purchased Celestron, another telescope manufacturer which focused on performance optical equipment and the more serious observer. Celestron was second only to Meade Instruments Corporation in sales of telescopes.[9]
Early in 2001, Tasco began searching for a buyer as profits sank. Meade Corporation began negotiations for a merger, but the Federal Trade Commission blocked the attempt.
By June 2002, Wind Point Partners, then the parent company of Bushnell Performance Optics purchased the Tasco brand and all the company's intellectual property.
In July 2007, Wind Point Partners sold Bushnell Performance Optics along with Tasco property and sales rights to MidOcean Partners, a private equity firm based in New York and London.[10]
On September 5, 2013, Alliant Techsystems announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Bushnell. Under the terms of the transaction, ATK paid $985 million in cash, subject to customary post-closing adjustments.[11]
ATK spun-off Vista Outdoor upon closing its merger with Orbital Sciences and became Orbital ATK on February 9, 2015. Anyone holding ATK common stock at the end of the business day on February 2, 2015 received two shares of Vista Outdoor common stock. Eligible shareholders had their brokerage account credited or received a book-entry account statement reflecting their ownership. Vista Outdoor was thus initially 100% owned by ATK shareholders. Vista Outdoor stock traded on a "when-issued" basis from January 29, 2015 to February 9, 2015. It began "regular way" trading on the New York Stock Exchange on February 10, 2015 under the ticker symbol "VSTO." No payment or action of any kind was required of shareholders. This transaction was conducted on a tax-free basis. Shareholders subject to American taxes generally did not have to recognize a gain or loss for federal tax purposes.[12][13][14]
