BAE Systems Inc. is selling its Safariland armor and holster operations to the owner of Stamford-based investment firm Kanders & Co. Inc. for $124 million.
Safariland is based in Jacksonville, Fla. The company has 1,700 employees at facilities in Florida, Massachusetts, Wyoming, California and Mexico.
Warren Kanders, president of Kanders & Co. since 1990, ran Safariland”™s operations prior to its 2007 acquisition by BAE, when it was known as Armor Holdings Inc. Kanders initially invested in predecessor company American Body Armor in 1996.
Kanders, who is also executive chairman of Black Diamond Inc., an outdoor performance product manufacturer, becomes CEO of Safariland L.L.C. He indicated the company will scout additional acquisitions.
Safariland makes a range of products used by law enforcement, including body armor, blast-resistant enclosures and high-tech systems used in forensic investigations.
The Safariland brand dates back to 1964, when Neale Perkins began making holsters in Sierra Madre, Calif., deriving the company”™s name from the African safaris on which his father had taken him.
