Navajo Nation offered up to $525 million in cash for gun company

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

UPDATE:
President Russell Begaye of the Navajo Nation said the all-cash offer for the Remington gun company was made without the approval of his office.

"This type of transaction done in secrecy is unacceptable," a July 17 post on Twitter read.

According to Begaye, the offer was pushed by the Office of the Controller of the Navajo Nation and "certain members" of the Navajo Nation Council, the tribe's legislative body. He did not name any delegates he deemed responsible for the deal, which he said he was "highly disappointed to learn about."

Andrew Ross Sorkin broke news of the deal in The New York Times on Monday evening. The story did not include the views of any elected tribal leaders but it quoted attorney Drew Ryce and said he represented the tribe in the deal.

Ryce, who is Mohawk, previously said the Morongo Band of Mission Indians was interested in acquiring the Colt gun company after it declared bankruptcy in 2015. He told Reuters at the time the tribe could qualify for government contracts -- the same idea that was promoted in The Times.

President Begaye was highly disappointed to learn about the the offer to purchase Remington by the Controller of the Nation and certain members of the Council. This type of transaction done in secrecy is unacceptable. #nytimes #indianz #nytimeslive
— Russell Begaye (@Russell_Begaye) July 17, 2018

The original post about the deal follows below.

The Navajo Nation offered to pay up to $525 million in cash for the Remington gun company, Andrew Ross Sorkin reports in The New York Times.

The deal would have saved Remington's creditors following the company's recent bankruptcy proceedings. But the tribe's offer was rejected last week for non-specific reasons, according to the report.

“All such opportunities are being and have been submitted to the committee for review,” the company said in a statement to The Times. The rejection came after a two-month delay in responding to the offer, Sorkin reported.

The tribe wanted to transform Remington into a government contracting firm, The Times reported. There still would have been consumer sales, but not any of the semi-automatic rifle variety, the ones which have been the focus of failed gun reform efforts.

“Navajo is a community of veterans and people of the land,” a tribal attorney told Sorkin. “We are indifferent to the AR-15 and happy to leave that business behind.”

Remington emerged from bankruptcy in May, The Times reported. The company is now reorganizing and that was given as the non-specific reason for the rejection of the tribe's offer, Sorkin reported.

Read More on the Story:
Dealbook by Andrew Ross Sorkin: A Surprising Bid for Remington, and an Unsurprising Rejection (The New York Times July 16, 2018)