Remington Outdoor Company filed chapter 11 petitions on July 27, 2020 in the Northern District of Alabama, less than two years after emerging from a prepackaged restructuring in Delaware. The second filing was built around a section 363 sale of substantially all assets to multiple buyers, followed by a liquidating plan that created a Creditor Trust for general unsecured claims and a Tort Claim Sub-Trust for tort liabilities tied to general liability insurance assets. The court confirmed the plan on March 12, 2021, the plan went effective on March 31, 2021, and the case remains open in 2026 as the Plan Administrator continues to liquidate residual assets and resolve outstanding claims.
Remington emerged from its 2018 prepackaged chapter 11 with a deleveraged balance sheet and $145 million of new capital, but the company's performance deteriorated in the following months, and collateral-base pressure under its priority term loan trapped cash needed for operations. By mid-2020, the debtors concluded that a prompt asset sale was the only viable path.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Alabama
Case Number
20-81688
Judge
Hon. Clifton R. Jessup Jr.
Petition Date
July 27, 2020
Confirmation Date
March 12, 2021
Effective Date
March 31, 2021
Case Snapshot
Company Background and the 2018 Restructuring
Remington's First Day Declaration describes the debtors as an integrated firearms-and-ammunition manufacturer serving commercial, military, and law-enforcement customers, with a differentiated position because the company manufactured both firearms and ammunition in the United States. The brand portfolio included Remington, Marlin, Bushmaster, Barnes Bullets, Advanced Armament Corp., and DPMS. The company operated seven U.S. manufacturing facilities totaling roughly 2.5 million square feet, with major firearms operations in Huntsville, Alabama and Ilion, New York and major ammunition plants in Lonoke, Arkansas and Mona, Utah. As of the petition date, the debtors employed about 2,100 full-time employees, with temporary labor added during peak production periods.
The 2018 restructuring was a prepackaged chapter 11 filed in the District of Delaware. Under the restructuring support agreement, holders of the FGI OpCo term loans equitized their claims and received 82.5% of the equity in the reorganized company, while third lien noteholders received 17.5% of the equity plus warrants. The RSA contemplated the reduction of approximately $700 million in funded indebtedness and a $100 million DIP term loan that would convert to an exit facility at emergence.
The First Day Declaration says the company emerged from the 2018 case with elevated inventory and too many brands outside its core focus, and that net sales and EBITDA deteriorated sharply in the post-emergence period.
Collateral-Base Pressure and the Second Filing
The First Day Declaration ties the need for a second restructuring to weak post-2018 performance and liquidity pressure. The priority term loan's collateral-base-floor mechanics forced the debtors to either prepay or cash-collateralize deficiencies, leaving about $38.7 million in a blocked dominion account plus a $3.5 million minimum cash balance at the petition date. Those constraints limited working capital and prevented the company from purchasing enough raw materials to meet demand.
COVID-19 made the problem worse. The declaration says the pandemic increased demand for core firearms and ammunition products, but temporary production suspensions and inadequate liquidity prevented the debtors from scaling production to capture that demand. The debtors filed to consummate a prompt sale of substantially all assets and then confirm a chapter 11 plan addressing obligations not assumed in the sale transactions. Speed mattered because the cash collateral structure was built to support the sale process and near-term operations, not a prolonged in-court restructuring.
Prepetition Capital Structure and Priority Term Loan
The 2018 restructuring left the debtors with four material debt facilities plus an unsecured intercompany note. The First Day Declaration identifies:
Priority term loan (original principal up to $85.5M; outstanding at petition)
~$75.5 million
FILO term loan
$55 million
Exit term loan (with PIK accrual)
~$110.7 million
Huntsville note
~$12.5 million
Vendor / supplier / service-provider liabilities
~$30 million
Prepetition Debt Summary
The priority term loan had an original principal capacity of up to $85.5 million, with about $75.5 million outstanding at the petition date plus accrued interest, fees, a prepayment premium, and an approximately $1.5 million exit fee. The FILO facility balance and the exit term loan balance, which had grown through PIK elections, are confirmed in the Final Cash Collateral Order. The approximately $30 million of vendor, supplier, and service-provider liabilities did not count disputed or contingent litigation claims. Cantor Fitzgerald Securities served as Priority Term Loan Agent, while Ankura Trust Company, LLC served as agent for the FILO and exit term loan facilities.
Cash Collateral and Adequate Protection
The debtors did not obtain DIP financing. Instead, the Final Cash Collateral Order authorized use of cash collateral, including cash that had been held in the blocked dominion account, to fund continued operations. The order reduced the priority term loan's collateral-base floor, releasing trapped cash for operating purposes. The court found the relief necessary to avoid immediate and irreparable harm and essential to continued operations. The order identifies three secured lender constituencies: the Priority Term Loan Agent and lenders, the FILO Agent and lenders, and the Exit Term Loan Agent and lenders.
The order gave the priority term lenders a consent fee equal to 3.00% of the petition-date priority term loan amount, reducible to 2.50% if the debtors signed asset purchase agreements with stalking horse bidders for at least $50 million in aggregate cash consideration within ten days of the petition date and then consummated at least $50 million of asset sales. The order also required that if the priority term lenders had not received $31 million of net sale proceeds before a chapter 11 plan filing, the plan had to provide cash payment of the remaining amount on the effective date.
For adequate protection, the order granted replacement and additional liens, superpriority administrative claims for diminution in value, and payment of certain professional fees for the exit term loan constituency. It also waived section 506(c) surcharge rights, "equities of the case" arguments under section 552(b), and marshaling arguments in favor of the prepetition secured creditors.
Section 363 Auction and Multi-Buyer Breakup
The Bidding Procedures Motion describes a dual-track sale architecture. The debtors were willing to sell the company as a whole or run separate transactions for individual business segments, and they contemplated separate stalking horse bidders for the firearms business and the ammunition business.
The proposed timeline called for a September 1, 2020 bid deadline, a September 8, 2020 auction, and a September 10, 2020 sale hearing. Qualified bids had to identify cash and non-cash purchase price components, specify which assets and liabilities were included, and, for whole-company bids, allocate value between firearms and ammunition.
Multiple buyers. The auction produced a breakup of the enterprise rather than a single going-concern transaction. A Notice of Successful Bidders listed attachment packages for Vista Outdoor, SIG Sauer, Roundhill Group, Huntsman Holdings, Century Arms, Sierra Bullets, Barnes Acquisition, Sturm Ruger, and Long Range Acquisition.
A sale hearing was held on September 29, 2020 for at least one of the asset sale transactions. One Sale Order entered on September 30, 2020 approved the sale of the Barnes Bullets business to Sierra Bullets, L.L.C. under a September 25, 2020 asset purchase agreement. The order recites that the auction was conducted under the bidding procedures order and that Sierra Bullets was the successful bidder for that asset package.
Confirmed Liquidating Plan
The court entered the Confirmation Order on March 12, 2021. Because the debtors had sold substantially all operating assets through the section 363 process, the plan used a liquidation structure rather than a reorganized operating company. The confirmation order identifies trust creation and the transfer of plan assets as core implementation steps.
The plan created two post-confirmation vehicles, each run by a Plan Administrator: a Creditor Trust for general unsecured claims and day-to-day wind-down work, and a Tort Claim Sub-Trust for tort claims tied to general liability insurance assets. The GL insurance assets and related rights and defenses vested in the Tort Claim Sub-Trust on the effective date, free and clear of claims, liens, and interests.
Class treatment. Classes 1 and 2 (priority non-tax claims and other secured claims) were unimpaired and deemed to accept. Classes 3 through 7 voted on the plan, while classes 8 and 9 (intercompany claims and equity interests) were impaired and deemed to reject:
Class 3 — Exit term loan claims
Voted on the plan
Class 4 — Huntsville note claim
Voted on the plan
Class 5 — General unsecured claims
Pro rata Creditor Trust interests, with a carveout on the first $894,451 away from exit-term-loan deficiency claims
Class 6 — Tort convenience claims
Cash equal to 2% of allowed amount, capped at $20,000 per incident and $250,000 in the aggregate
Class 7 — Tort claims
Beneficial interests in the Tort Claim Sub-Trust tied to GL insurance proceeds
Class 8 — Intercompany claims
Canceled without recovery
Class 9 — Equity interests
Canceled with no recovery
Plan Class Treatment
The Confirmation Order also references an "Aggregate Gift" from the exit term loan lenders to junior creditors, including funding for unsecured recoveries and tort convenience payments.
Trust Administration and Post-Confirmation Work
The Creditor Trust was designed to handle day-to-day liquidation work for remaining estate assets, including claim objections, litigation assets, distributions to general unsecured creditors, taxes, and other wind-down tasks. As of March 2022, the Plan Administrator reported that the estates had about 3,200 claims to reconcile, with numerous omnibus objections already filed both before and after the effective date.
The Tort Claim Sub-Trust had a narrower mandate. It was built to administer non-convenience tort claims, preserve and distribute GL insurance assets, and manage insurance-related disputes. The plan provided that GL insurance assets and related rights vested in the Tort Claim Sub-Trust on the effective date, free and clear of claims, liens, and interests.
Trust Extension and 2026 Posture
The case remains open more than five years after the plan went effective. In January 2026, the Plan Administrator filed a Motion to Extend the Trust Termination Date from March 31, 2026 to March 31, 2027, citing ongoing work to liquidate remaining estate assets — including efforts tied to Sporting Activities Insurance Limited — and continuing tort litigation, including the Angelia Lamb case in Missouri.
The court granted the extension on February 19, 2026, moving the trust termination date to March 31, 2027.
Separately, the court continued a status conference on the objection to Proof of Claim No. 1207 to May 20, 2026, confirming that active claim litigation persists years after confirmation.
July 27, 2020
Chapter 11 petitions filed
August 20, 2020
Final Cash Collateral Order entered
September 2020
Auction conducted; assets sold to multiple buyers
September 29, 2020
Sale hearing held for asset sale transactions
September 30, 2020
Sale Order entered approving Barnes Bullets sale to Sierra Bullets
March 12, 2021
Plan confirmed
March 31, 2021
Plan effective date
January 13, 2026
Status conference on Claim No. 1207 objection continued to May 20, 2026
February 19, 2026
Trust termination date extended to March 31, 2027
Key Timeline
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened to Remington's brands after the 2020 bankruptcy?
The section 363 auction split Remington's assets among multiple buyers. The Notice of Successful Bidders listed Vista Outdoor, SIG Sauer, Roundhill Group, Huntsman Holdings, Century Arms, Sierra Bullets, Barnes Acquisition, Sturm Ruger, and Long Range Acquisition as successful bidders for various asset packages. The debtors did not land a single going-concern buyer for the entire enterprise.
Why did Remington file for bankruptcy a second time?
The First Day Declaration ties the second filing to weak performance after the 2018 restructuring, collateral-base pressure under the priority term loan that trapped cash in a blocked dominion account, insufficient working capital to purchase raw materials, and COVID-19 production disruptions at a time when demand for core products was increasing.
Is the Remington bankruptcy case still open?
Yes. The Plan Administrator is still liquidating residual assets and administering tort claims. In February 2026, the court extended the Creditor Trust and Tort Claim Sub-Trust termination date to March 31, 2027, and active claim litigation continues before Judge Jessup.
This article was researched and written with AI assistance, using court filings, public records, and news sources. AI-generated content can contain errors. Verify all information against primary sources before relying on it. This is not legal or financial advice. See the disclaimer.