Czech arms maker CSG chief eyes place on global stage

Michal Strnad, who a decade ago became head of CSG, a family defence business, is closing in on buying U.S. ammunitions maker Kinetic Group that will transform a company that started by buying tanks for scrap into a key player in the global arms market. But first Strnad, the 31-year old Czech, owner and chairman of the Czechoslovak Group (CSG) — a large supplier to Ukraine — needs to fend off a rival offer for Kinetic parent Vista Outdoor to get control of around 20 percent of the West's small ammunitions market and nearly double its revenue from last year's 1.7 billion euros. "We are a long-term strategic investor that wants to take it private to build it and grow it and invest in new capacity and technology," Strnad told Reuters in an interview on Friday.