Bass Pro Shops

Bass Pro Group, LLC is a leading, privately-held retailer of hunting, fishing, camping and related outdoor merchandise. The Springfield, MO-based company completed its $4 billion acquisition of Cabela’s – the other dominant retailer in the space—in September 2017. The deal featured substantial financial backing as Goldman Sachs and Pamplona Capital invested over $2 billion of preferred equity in the company. Both retailers began as merchants of specialty fishing products - Bass Pro Shops as a store selling homemade bait and worms and Cabela’s as a purveyor of mail order fishing flies through national outdoor magazines. Over the ensuing decades, each retailer’s shopping experience was continually enhanced to the point where the average visitor now drives 40+ miles and spend ±2.5 hours per visit. The elevated level of consumer engagement is driven by a destination retail experience that cannot be replicated online. Each location is tailored around the character of its surrounding region and boasts attractions such as giant aquariums teeming with live fish, museum-quality wildlife displays, unique restaurants and ocean-themed bowling alleys. Many locations are even the top tourist attractions in their respective states, including the original Bass Pro Shops in Springfield which draws in more than 4 million visitors annually.