By Martinne Geller
(Reuters) - Reckitt Benckiser (RB.L) has agreed to buy U.S. baby formula maker Mead Johnson Nutrition (MJN.N) for $16.6 billion, giving the British consumer goods company a new product line and expanding its presence in developing markets.
Reckitt, the maker of Lysol cleaners, Durex condoms and Mucinex cold medicine, said on Friday it will pay $90 in cash for Mead Johnson shares, a 30 percent premium to their close on Wednesday last week, the day before Reckitt said it was in advanced talks with the maker of Enfamil baby formula.
Including Mead Johnson's debt, the deal is worth $17.9 billion and Reckitt Benckiser said it would finance the acquisition with debt underwritten by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank and HSBC.
Reckitt - whose business has been hurt by a safety scandal in South Korea, slowing emerging markets and a "failed" Scholl product - also reported weaker than expected sales in the fourth quarter due to declines in Europe and North America.
The company also forecast 2017 sales growth below some analyst estimates, citing the ongoing impact of those issues and a challenging macroeconomic backdrop.
Reckitt's shares were down 2 percent at 1542 GMT in London, while Mead Johnson was up 5 percent at $87.2 in New York.
INFLECTION POINT
Reckitt Chief Executive Rakesh Kapoor said the deal was "a significant inflection point" for the company, as its biggest acquisition will nearly double the size of Reckitt's faster-growing consumer health business and expand its developing market presence by two-thirds.
China will become Reckitt's second-largest market behind the United States following the acquisition of Mead Johnson, which was spun off from Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY.N) in 2009.
Mead has long been seen as a potential takeover target for Danone (DANO.PA) or Nestle (NESN.S), but not Reckitt, since the British company has never been in the baby formula market.
"You might be surprised but we are absolutely not surprised. We've been looking at this for a number of years now as we have indeed other companies," Kapoor told reporters.
Still, analysts saw the choice of Mead Johnson as proof that other, more obvious deals were unavailable in areas Reckitt has been targeting such as over-the-counter medicines.
"The deal would seem to tick the 'financial logic' rather better than the 'strategic logic', but opens up a lot of opportunities in a very attractive category," said analysts at Credit Suisse.
Mead Johnson's shares had fallen by a third over the past two years, as it has lost market share in China due to increased competition and changing consumer habits.