A well placed source just told us that Colt is buying LWRC for $60 million. The deal is supposed to close on 1 March. The Maryland company may relocate to Florida or Texas and the LWRC M6 Individual Carbine (M6IC) rifle will become a Colt branded product.

Richard Bernstein purchased LWRC in 2008 for $5 million. Bernstein, who is an owner and investor in a number of private businesses, has been involved in the defense industry for a while now. In 2004 he sold BAI Aerosystems to L-3 Communications (the manufacturer of EOTech Holographic sights). One of his companies was a supplier to LWRC before he purchased it.

Our friends at All Outdoors broke the news yesterday that LWRC was up for sale.

UPDATE #1: The sale to Colt has been confirmed by another source.

UPDATE #2: The $60 million is the total for the two companies being sold (LWRC and Matech).

* Colt Holding Corp. owns both Colt’s Manufacturing Company or Colt Defense LLC.