FTC seeks more info on Bass Pro-Cabela’s deal

Industry: Retail 2017-01-02

U.S. fishing and hunting equipment retailer Cabela’s Inc (CAB.N), which is being bought by privately held rival Bass Pro Shops, said the Federal Trade Commission had sought more information from the companies about the deal.

Cabela’s shares were down 7.6 percent at $56.98 in premarket trading on Friday.

Cabela’s did not provide details about the FTC’s request.

As part of the proposed $5.5 billion deal, announced in October, Capital One Financial Corp (COF.N) had said it would buy Cabela’s credit card business and signed a 10-year partnership with Bass Pro to issue credit cards to Cabela’s customers.

On Friday, Cabela’s said Capital One had informed the company that it does not expect to get approval for acquiring the credit card business, called World’s Foremost Bank, before Oct. 3, 2017, hence not allowing the deal to close in the first half of 2017.

Cabela’s said it is looking for “potential alternative structures” to allow both the transactions to close on or before Oct. 3, the date after which the companies have the right to terminate the deal.

Cabela’s said it continues to expect to get antitrust clearance for the deal in the United States and Canada during the first half of 2017.