In a filing with securities regulators, the locally based outdoor equipment store added it would issue another 750,000 shares if its stock offering is over-subscribed. If all the shares are sold at the highest price, Gander Mountain will raise $92 million, minus $11.7 million in fees. If the maximum is hit, it would represent up to 45.7% of its shares.
Sales at the outdoor sporting goods retailer grew 37% to $489.4 million in fiscal 2003, which ended in January, and the company made a $1.5-million profit in fiscal 2003. Sales at stores open longer than a year were up 11.5% during that period.
The Erickson family owns the chain through its Holiday Cos. convenience store chain. The Erickson family will retain majority control of the company even if all the offered shares are sold.
But the chain also has more than $110 million in debt and faces fierce competition from other sporting good chains. One of those competitors is Nebraska-based Cabela's, which recently filed for its own initial public stock offering that totals $230 million. Cabela's had sales of $1.4 billion and earned $51.3 million in its most recent year.
Gander Mountain is opening one of its 80,000-sf "big box" stores this month in suburban Detroit.
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