Norma Precision Ammunition, a 120-year-old Swedish brand, announced that it had consolidated a headquarters, factory and distribution center in the Savannah area.
Norma has been owned by Swiss small-caliber ammunition and pyrotechnics manufacturer RUAG Ammotec, which operated a U.S. factory in Tampa, Fla., for 10 years.
Norma ammunition has been imported in large quantities through the Port of Savannah in recent years, including 400 containers from RUAG Ammotec factories in Europe. The company also made 30 million cartridges of ammunition in the U.S., according to a press release from Gov. Brian Kemp’s office.
Norma/Ammotec has been operating in Savannah for months and now seems to be consolidating under the Swedish brand, Norma, after the Swiss government-owned parent company, RUAG International, decided to divest all interests in Ammotec and the broader defense sector to focus on its interests in aerospace.
In March, RUAG International completed the sale of its Ammotec division, including all global sites run by 2,700 employees, to Italian firearm manufacturer Beretta, months after the announcing the planned divestiture in November.
Norma/Ammotec’s Savannah operation is run by Peter Lemke, a former Army Ranger who founded Polycase Ammunition LLC in Savannah in 2012 and led the acquisition of its intellectual property when it was subsequently sold to creditors. He joined Norma/Ammotec in 2018, according to his LinkedIn profile, which also lists Mr. Lemke as a member of the eight-member management board of RUAG Ammotec in Germany.
The company did not mention the number of jobs that would be created in Savannah, but its LinkedIn page notes that the company is already hiring for a variety of roles.
