Jarden and Newell Rubbermaid in merger talks

Newell Rubbermaid and Jarden are in talks over a merger that would create a company worth more than $22bn with a vast portfolio of consumer brands, people familiar with the matter said.

A deal would be the latest in a long series for both companies, which have grown in recent years through aggressive merger and acquisition strategies. Jarden’s brands include Yankee Candle, Crock-Pot, Breville and Josten’s graduation rings. Newell’s top brands include Sharpie markers and Paper Mate pens.

Jarden has been transformed by its founder Martin Franklin from a tiny company into a consumer products conglomerate with a market capitalisation of about $10.5bn.

The Boca Raton, Florida group sells products as diverse as coffee grinders, kitchen jars, mops, fire alarms, babies’ dummies, fishing rods, candles and little zinc disks used to make US pennies.

It is unclear whether Mr Franklin, son of Sir Roland Franklin, a long-time lieutenant of the late British corporate raider Sir James Goldsmith, would continue be part of the combined group or whether he would focus on his other ventures.

Mr Franklin recently set up Nomad Foods, an investment vehicle, to buy brands in the food retail sector. It has acquired Europe’s largest frozen foods company Iglo for €2.6bn from UK-based buyout group Permira and the continental European operations of Findus for more than £500m.

He also controls Platform Specialty Products, a chemicals focused group, which recently acquired the UK’s Alent for $2.3bn including debt.

Atlanta-based Newell has also grown via acquisitions over the years and has a similar business model as Jarden, which aims at taking over companies with solid cash flow and strong management. Newell has a market value of about $12bn.

People familiar with the matter said that it was too early to determine whether a deal would be concluded but they stressed that the talks were constructive.

After news of the deal was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, shares in Newell closed 7.5 per cent higher, while shares in Jarden rose by 3.5 per cent.