HK fans better buy now

From Yahoo—

Wednesday December 29 4:04 AM ET
Paper: Colt’s to Buy German Arms Maker
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Colt’s Manufacturing Co. agreed to acquire German
small-arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch GmbH for slightly more than $100
million,
or 98.7 million euros, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

The deal demonstrates Colt’s continued shift away from the besieged civilian
handgun industry, the newspaper said.

Colt’s is controlled by a New York investment group headed by Donald Zilkha.
Heckler & Koch is owned by a unit of British Aerospace PLC, now operating as
BAE
Systems.

Colt’s plans to phase out much or all of Heckler & Koch’s U.S. pistol sales,
the
Wall Street Journal said.

Colt’s began exiting the handgun business last autumn, partly in response to
a
raft of lawsuits filed in 28 U.S. municipalities.

The combined company would be in a formidable position to compete for
military
rifle and grenade launcher contracts, John Rigas, a partner in the Zilkha
investment firm, told the Wall Street Journal. He told the newspaper he
expects
the combined company to have revenue of about $300 million in 2000.