In late July we reported on Smith & Wesson working on a deal to buy Crimson Trace for $95 million dollars. On August 29th Smith & Wesson announced that the deal has gone through, Crimson Trace is now theirs. The cash deal gives Smith & Wesson a new platform to develop a line of electro-optics with instant brand recognition bypassing hurdles in proving a product to the industry.

Smith & Wesson has also announced a conference call and webcast to discuss the first quarter of fiscal 2017’s financial and operational results. In the press release that was issued the mention of “forward-looking statements” was made with no clear commitment to answering any real questions about the new merger.

I could speculate all day about what this might mean for the Amercian gun manufacturing giant but it would be pointless. I expect there to be quite a few new innovations coming out of Crimson Trace and more factory laser bearing handguns coming from Smith & Wesson. The real question what will this do to the relationship between Kimber and Crimson Trace, does this mean that we are going to see OEM partnerships with Crimson Trace dry up? I am going to wager a guess and say that that is a strong possibility.