Bass Pro Shops To Buy Rival Cabela's For $5.5 Billion

ACWORTH, GA — Bass Pro Shops on Monday announced it will acquire rival Cabela's for $5.5 billion. The move comes a little more than two years after Cabela's opened its store in southwest Cherokee County.

The acquisition brings together not only Cabela's and Bass Pro Shops, but also includes White River Marine Group, a boating product and services arm of the Bass Pro Shops brand, the companies announced in a statement.

"Today's announcement marks an exceptional opportunity to bring together three special companies with an abiding love for the outdoors and a passion for serving sportsmen and sportswomen," said Johnny Morris, founder and CEO of Bass Pro Shops. "We have enormous admiration for Cabela’s, its founders and outfitters, and its loyal base of customers. We look forward to continuing to celebrate and grow the Cabela’s brand alongside Bass Pro Shops and White River as one unified outdoor family.”

A driving force behind this agreement is the "highly complementary business philosophies, product offerings, expertise and geographic footprints of the two businesses," Bass Pro Shops said.

Cabela’s found the ideal partner in Bass Pro Shops, said Tommy Millner, Cabela’s chief executive officer.

"Having undertaken a thorough strategic review, during which we assessed a wide variety of options to maximize value, the Board unanimously concluded that this combination with Bass Pro Shops is the best path forward for Cabela’s, its shareholders, outfitters and customers," he said. "In addition to providing significant immediate value to our shareholders, this partnership provides a unique platform from which our brand will be extremely well positioned to continue to serve outdoor enthusiasts worldwide for generations to come."

Cabela's opened its 100,000-square-foot facility in the Cherokee Village Square development, which is located on the northeast corner of Highway 92 at Interstate 75.

Upon closing, Bass Pro Shops also said it will launch a partnership with Capital One, which will service the Cabela’s CLUB, Cabela’s co-branded credit card, and Bass Pro Shops will maintain a seamless integration between the credit card program and the combined companies’ retail operations and deep customer relationships.

All Cabela’s CLUB points and Bass Pro Shops Outdoor Rewards points will be unaffected by the transactions, and customers can continue to use their credit cards as they were prior to the transaction. Capital One intends to continue to operate the Cabela’s CLUB servicing center in Lincoln, Nebraska.

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