Stanley Black & Decker buying Newell tools unit for $1.95B

Tool company Stanley Black & Decker Inc. is buying Newell Brands' tools division for $1.95 billion in cash.

The unit includes the industrial cutting, hand tool and power tool accessory brands Irwin and Lenox.

Newell Brands Inc. announced recently that it will be selling several divisions as part of a consolidation move. The move to sell businesses with annual sales of about $1.5 billion comes a year after the company bought Jarden Corp. for about $13 billion and Elmer's for $600 million.

Newell Brands said that the consolidation move will transform it from a holding company to an operating company with a new set of investment priorities and a sharpened portfolio. It will consolidate its existing 32 business units to 16 operating divisions. Atlanta-based Newell Brands said that it hopes to complete the sales within the first half of 2017.

The transaction between Newell Brands and Stanley Black & Decker is anticipated to result in annual cost savings of about $80 million to $90 million for Stanley Black & Decker by the third year after closing. The buyout is expected to add approximately 15 cents per share to earnings in the first year after the deal closes, rising to about 50 cents per share by the third year. This excludes about $125 million to $140 million of restructuring and other acquisition-related costs and approximately $40 million in inventory-related charges.

This is Stanley Black & Decker's first major acquisition since 2013, President and CEO James Loree said in a written statement on Wednesday.

The transaction is targeted to close in the first half of 2017.

Stanley Black & Decker is based in New Britain, Connecticut. Its stock edged up in premarket trading.