Arm & Hammer Parent Church & Dwight Buys Water Pik For $1 Billion

Church & Dwight Co. announced Monday a deal to buy Water Pik Inc. for $1 billion in cash. The personal care and consumer products company, which makes products under the Arm & Hammer brand, said it expects the deal to close in the third quarter and be neutral to 2017 earnings per share. Church & Dwight expects 2017 adjusted EPS of $1.92, compared with the FactSet consensus of $1.93, and 2017 adjusted EPS of $2.07 to $2.09, compared with expectations of $2.07. "The flosser products business is a fast-growing platform and capitalizes on the trends of increased gum disease, oral care awareness across all demographics and expansion of the middle-class in emerging markets," said Chief Executive Matthew Farrell. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has soared 19% year to date, while the SPDR Consumer Staples Select Sector ETF has advanced 5.8% and the S&P 500 has gained 9.9%.