Iconic Colt Firearm Company on the Verge of Utter Bankruptcy

15 Jun, 2015 by Warner Todd Huston

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Colt firearms, the most famous gun maker in the world, could disappear after 160 years of making firearms if it can’t raise enough cash to pay its debt, reports say.

The company made famous for its Colt six shooter–the “gun that won the West” and the pistol seen in so many Westerns–as well as the heavy-hitting, Semi-Auto .45 ACP for the US Army may be going down the tubes after 160 years.

The company, that has been making guns for 160 years, has been struggling financially and missed a $10.9 million interest payment on its debt in mid-May.

Colt admitted, in a regulatory filing, that its failure to make that interest payment raises “substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.” Colt also said it “may seek relief under the bankruptcy code.”

The company has a 30-day grace period until June 14 to make the interest payment after which it has to find a way to restructure the debt with its bondholders.

Kevin Starke, gun industry analyst for CRT, said that Colt had already signed a debt restructuring agreement with its bank, but a group of bondholders rejected it that would have dropped the bonds to 45% of their face value.

Starke said that bondholders are reluctant to agree to any pact that forces them to take a loss. That’s because they might have a better chance of recovering all or most of their money in bankruptcy, assuming that Colt gets sold for enough money to cover the $250 million worth of bonds and another $102 million in additional debt.

That could be possible if a buyer emerges from among its larger gunmaking rivals such as Smith & Wesson (SWHC) or Sturm Ruger (RGR).

The failure of Colt seems to be a failure of leadership as opposed to the economy or legal restrictions pushed on the industry by Constitution-hating Democrats.

But that is how capitalism works, folks. You mess up, you pay the price. No matter how iconic the company is, Colt deserves to go down the tubes if it is being mismanaged.

Warner Todd Huston

Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago-based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart's BigGovernment.com, BigJournalsim.com and all Breitbart News' other sites, RightWingNews.com, CanadaFreePress.com, and many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs across the country to discuss his opinion editorials and current events as well as appearing on TV networks such as CNN, Fox News, Fox Business Network, and various Chicago-based news programs. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the book "Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture" which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of PubliusForum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston and follow him on Twitter, on Google Plus , and Facebook.