WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Household and personal care products maker Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (CHD) said Monday that it has agreed to buy Avid Health, Inc., the leader in gummy form vitamins and supplements, for $650 million in cash.
The deal is expected to close early in the fourth quarter.
Church & Dwight said it expects to finance the acquisition with a combination of debt and cash.
Avid's net sales for the trailing twelve months through June 30 were about $230 million. Avid's major brands are VITAFUSION, the #1 brand in adult gummy form vitamins and L'IL CRITTERS, the #1 brand in children's gummy form vitamins.
Church & Dwight expects the acquisition to be dilutive to its 2012 earnings, by about $0.02 per share, and accretive to both earnings and free cash flow in 2013, inclusive of transaction costs, acquisition-related expenses, the effect of an inventory step-up charge and intangible amortization expense.
Church & Dwight said it continues to expect 2012 earnings per share to be in the range of $2.41 to $2.43, excluding the $0.02 per share dilutive effect of the Avid acquisition. Including Avid, the expected earnings range for 2012 is $2.39 to $2.41.
For 2013, Church & Dwight forecast earnings of $2.73 to $2.78 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters currently expect the company to earn $2.42 per share for the fulll year 2012 and $2.66 per share for the full year 2013.
Church & Dwight shares closed Monday's regular trading session at $53.04, up 3 cents, and gained an additional 96 cents or 1.81% in after hours trading.
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