Another gun company has been snapped up by a Private Equity firm. This time it is the New Britain-based firearm company Stag Arms that had its FFL license temporarily revoked last year. In December the President and owner Mark Malkowski pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of failure to maintain firearms records. He was forced to agree to sell the firm and never be involved in owning a firearm company again.

White Wolf Capital, which also owns AR-15 manufacturer Aero Precision and gun accessory maker VG6 Precision apparently snapped up Stag in February.

Despite the legal action late late year, Stag was still at SHOT Show. Hank Strange did an interview with Stag’s compliance officer on the show floor. He claims that an employee, who has since left the company, failed to track firearms coming in and out of their facility and, after being pressed by Hank, admitted Class III firearms were found to be unserialized because an employee was on vacation (and they were busy, and they forgot to do this that and the next thing … many excuses). The interview is worth watching …

What is really interesting is that the Managing Director of White Capital, Mr. Elie Azar, was formally employed by Cerberus Capital Management which acquired Remington, Marlin Bushmaster and other gun companies, rolling them into The Freedom Group, now called The Remington Outdoor Company.

The full press release is …

White Wolf Capital LLC (“White Wolf”) is pleased to announce that it has acquired Stag Arms LLC (“Stag” or the “Company”). Details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Elie Azar, Managing Director of White Wolf, noted, “We are very excited to add Stag to our portfolio of outstanding companies in the firearms industry. Stag is an iconic brand with a well-deserved reputation for product excellence and world-class customer service. We look forward to partnering with Stag’s strong management team and employees to grow the Company through new and innovative product offerings. In addition, we are delighted that Mark Malkowski, Stag’s founder, has agreed to remain engaged with the Company as a consultant. Mark’s deep knowledge of the industry will be invaluable as we build upon the excellent foundation that he put in place.”

Mark Malkowski commented, “It is with great enthusiasm that I hand off ownership of Stag to the White Wolf team. I feel fortunate to be able to transition the business I started from scratch to a team that shares my philosophy and passion for the industry and who recognizes the exceptional capabilities of Stag’s dedicated employees.”

Stag will continue to operate (under a new Federal Firearms License) out of its current facility in New Britain, CT.