ISS urges Vista Outdoor shareholders to 'abstain' from voting for merger

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Institutional Shareholder Services on Wednesday recommended that Vista Outdoor shareholders abstain from voting for a proposed merger next week, arguing they should hold out for a better deal for the entire company.

ISS wrote "Continue to abstain on the proposed merger; support the adjournment proposal," in a recommendation seen by Reuters.

The recommendation comes just after Anoka, Minnesota-based Vista accepted a $2 billion offer for its sporting-goods business, The Kinetic Group, from Czechoslovak Group, known as CSG. Earlier this week the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States cleared the proposed transaction, finding there were no unresolved national security concerns.

But ISS said shareholders should stop short of signing off on the transaction at the July 2 meeting and wait for better conditions. ISS said "an all-cash deal for the entire company that would entail less regulatory, execution, and market-related risks than the proposed merger," would be preferable.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by David Gregorio)