ARCHIVED  November 29, 2002

Italian weapon manufacturer buys Burris Co.

GREELEY — Beretta Holding, the legendary Italian gun manufacturer, has bought Greeley-based Burris Co. Inc., a maker of high-end rifle scopes and binoculars.

Terms of the purchase were not disclosed.

Beretta plans to keep Burris in Greeley, and intends to keep the Burris brand on its products, a Beretta official said.

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“Burris is a well-recognized and respected name in the optics industry,´ said Jeff Reh, general counsel for Beretta’s operations in the United States. Reh is also a newly appointed director for Burris.

As planned, Burris chief executive, John McCarty, will continue to head the local operations.

Burris, founded in 1972 by Don Burris, employs 80 people in Greeley. The company was purchased by Inductotherm Industries Inc., a New Jersey-based industrial concern, in 1985.

Last year, Burris, located at 331 E. 8th St., reported $11 million in sales, producing 50,000 scopes. The company’s flagship product is a titanium scope, called the Mr. T Black Diamond scope.

Burris is one of two major scope makers in the United States.

“They make good scopes and they make them here — they’re very popular,´ said Mark Keefe, editor of American Rifleman magazine.

Rival scope manufacturers are found in the Far East, Germany and Austria, Keefe said.

Beretta, best known for its handguns — Beretta’s M-9 pistols are the standard-issue sidearm for the American military — is recognized as the oldest ongoing manufacturing business in the world.

The Beretta family started the company in 1526 and still maintains ownership.

Mastro Bartolomeo Baretta made his first sale that year to the Arsenal of Venice. The company is now run by Ugo Gusalli Baretta and his two sons, the 15th generation of the family to operate Baretta Holding.

Beretta reported about $250 million in worldwide sales last year. In recent years the company has grown from multiple acquisitions.

About six years ago, Beretta bought Italian shotgun maker Benelli. Three years later it purchased Finland’s Sako and Tikka, well known for its sport shotguns.

The purchase of Burris, however, is Beretta’s first move into the optics arena, Keefe said.

In each of Beretta’s previous purchases, Keefe said the company has kept its newly acquired business in the same place.

Beretta does not have immediate plans to expand Burris, but growth is possible, said Reh.

“The first benefit Burris will gain is we will make Burris part of Beretta’s distribution system worldwide,” he said. “Our hope is to expand the sale of Burris products in Europe and Asia and other places. So that should immediately expand orders at the company.”

“To the extent that we need to expand production capability, we’ll look first at efficiencies in production. Expanding the facility itself is not out of the question.”

One possible avenue for growth is the bundling of Burris scopes with Beretta shotguns. Referring to the Sako and Tikka shotguns, Reh said, “Burris scopes would be a natural product offering with those rifles.”

Beretta has also recently launched retail operations in the United States and Europe.

Although Beretta has a U.S.-based division — Beretta U.S.A. is located in Accokeek, Md., near Washington, D.C. — Burris will report to the Italian parent company, Reh said.

Beretta U.S.A. has about 400 employees.

The acquisition of Burris “fits perfectly in the Beretta strategy in expanding into the non-firearms business,” the company said in a press release.

Ten years ago, Beretta started placing its brand on outdoor clothing and supplies.

GREELEY — Beretta Holding, the legendary Italian gun manufacturer, has bought Greeley-based Burris Co. Inc., a maker of high-end rifle scopes and binoculars.

Terms of the purchase were not disclosed.

Beretta plans to keep Burris in Greeley, and intends to keep the Burris brand on its products, a Beretta official said.

“Burris is a well-recognized and respected name in the optics industry,´ said Jeff Reh, general counsel for Beretta’s operations in the United States. Reh is also a newly appointed director for Burris.

As planned, Burris chief executive, John McCarty, will continue to head the local operations.

Burris, founded in 1972 by Don Burris, employs…

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