Jarden to buy Yankee Candle for $1.75 billion

Jarden Corp agreed to buy candle maker Yankee Candle Co Inc for $1.75 billion (1.12 billion pounds) after private equity owner Madison Dearborn Partners LLC failed to sell for a higher price earlier this year.

Jarden, which sells Crock-Pot slow cookers and Sunbeam electric blankets, said on Tuesday it would fund the transaction with cash, common equity and a mix of bank debt and bonds.

The acquisition of Yankee Candle, the largest scented candle company in the United States, will bolster Jarden's branded consumables division, and adjusted cash flow on a pro-forma basis would have been about 25 percent higher in the 12 months to the end of June 2013, Jarden said.

The deal is expected to be accretive to Jarden's adjusted earnings per share by approximately 10 percent before synergies, Jarden added.

"Strategically, it fits well with Jarden's strategy of buying niche, seasonal, staple consumer brands, and should provide a number of cross-selling opportunities over time," Oppenheimer & Co analyst Joseph Altobello wrote in a note.

Yankee Candle, which also sells home fragrance products, car fresheners and candle accessories, was acquired by Chicago-based Madison Dearborn for $1.6 billion in 2006 and put up for sale earlier this year.

Other private equity firms balked at Madison Dearborn's price tag of at least $2 billion. If Madison Dearborn did not find a buyer, it had planned to float Yankee Candle in the stock market.

A person familiar with the matter said Madison Dearborn stands to return approximately two times its investors' money in Yankee Candle following the sale. Madison Dearborn declined to comment.

The cash deal, Jarden's first since April 2010, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Jarden's shares closed at $42.95 on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, giving it a market value of $4.8 billion.

Barclays Capital and Bank of America Merrill Lynch advised Madison Dearborn on the deal.