Jarden buys Holmes Group

Jarden Corporation, owner of the Sunbeam plant in Neosho, announced today it had bought The Holmes Group, Inc., a transaction valued at $625 million. The purchase was made with $420 million in cash and 4.1 million shares of Jarden common stock, according to the Jarden news release.
Holmes manufactures and distributes home environment and small kitchen electric appliances, with name brands including Crock Pot, Harmony, Holmes, Bionaire, Rival, Seal-a-Meal, and WhiteMountain. The transaction will close during the third quarter, the release said.
"Holmes has also developed its own state-of-the-art manufacturing, distribution and new product development facilities in China within the last five years, having had an active manufacturing presence in China for over fifteen years. Holmes has annual revenues of approximately $700 million," the news release said.