Oct 3, 2016 3 min read

OMAHA, Neb. – Outdoor gear giant Bass Pro Shops is snapping up rival Cabela’s in a $4.5 billion deal announced Monday.

Bass Pro is paying Cabela’s shareholders $65.50 cash per share, a 19 percent premium to Friday’s closing price. The deal combines two companies known for their giant destination superstores.

Reuters news agency reported last November Bass Pro Shops was looking into making a bid for Cabela’s Inc., and Cabela’s had started to explore sales options by approaching private equity firms.

Cabela’s has more than 50 stores in the United States and Canada, including one slightly east of Triadelphia, W.Va. – less than a half-hour drive from Washington. The Sidney, Neb.-based firm has one store in Pennsylvania, in Hamburg, Berks County.

Springfield, Mo.-based Bass Pro Shops has 99 stores in the United States and Canada, but only one in Pennsylvania (Harrisburg) and none in West Virginia.

Activist investment firm Elliott Management began pushing for significant changes at Cabela’s last fall. Elliott owns 7.4 percent of Cabela’s shares and holds options to buy another 3.8 percent.

Bass Pro founder and CEO Johnny Morris said he hopes to continue growing the Cabela’s brand alongside his privately held Springfield, Mo.-based chain.

“The story of each of these companies could only have happened in America, made possible by our uniquely American free enterprise system,” Morris said. “We have enormous admiration for Cabela’s, its founders and outfitters, and its loyal base of customers.”

Capital One will take over running Cabela’s credit card unit as part of the deal, which is backed by $1.8 billion in financing from Goldman Sachs and another $600 million from private equity fund Pamplona Capital.

The deal creates uncertainty about jobs in Cabela’s home state. The combined companies plan to keep some operations in Sidney and Lincoln, Neb., but it’s not immediately clear how many jobs might be lost.

Cabela’s employs about 2,000 people in the western Nebraska town of Sidney, which has about 7,000 residents. State Sen. Ken Schilz, who represents the area, said the news is concerning because of the duplication between the two companies’ headquarters that will be eliminated.

“We’ll just have to wait and see what Bass Pro does,” Schilz said. ‘I’m sure most folks in Sidney are pretty nervous this morning.”

A sale of Cabela’s was a distinct possibility ever since the company announced a review of its strategic options last December, but many in Sidney weren’t ready to believe it could happen.

“We’re just trying to absorb it right now,” said Denise Wilkinson, president of Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce.

“We just never knew what would happen.”

Nebraska politicians are encouraging Bass Pro to maintain significant operations in the state after the deal closes in the first half of next year.

Cabela’s was founded in 1961 when Dick Cabela started selling fishing flies through the mail from his kitchen table with his wife, Mary, and brother, Jim.

Bass Pro got its start in 1971 when Morris began selling high-quality fishing tackle in his dad’s liquor store in Springfield. He developed a following in the Ozarks region – its lakes and rich streams are havens for anglers – created the Bass Pro Shop Catalog in 1974 and opened the first store in Springfield seven years later.