* Deal adds brands All, Sun, Snuggle
* Transaction to be financed with debt
* Berenberg analysts see deal 6 pct EBIT accretive in 2017
* Shares top performers on DAX index
(Adds advisors, analyst comment, shares)
FRANKFURT, June 24 (Reuters) - German consumer products
group Henkel HNKG_p.DE said on Friday it was buying U.S.
laundry and home care company The Sun Products Corp from a fund
of Vestar Capital Partners in a deal valued at $3.6 billion
including debt.
The debt-financed acquisition will add laundry detergents
All and Sun and fabric conditioner Snuggle to Henkel's portfolio
and make it the No. 2 laundry care maker in North America,
behind Procter & Gamble PG.N and ahead of Church & Dwight
CHD.N .
"We believe that the opportunity for Henkel to leverage its
innovation excellence on Sun brands is enormous, providing
significant upside (on top of synergies) to margins," Berenberg
analysts said.
Shares in Henkel were 0.6 percent lower at 1045 GMT, making
them the top performers on Germany's blue-chip DAX index
.GDAXI , which was down 7.1 percent in response to Britain's
vote to leave the European Union.
Adding Sun Products' business, with annual sales of about
1.4 billion euros ($1.6 billion) in the United States and
Canada, will raise the proportion of sales Henkel's laundry and
home care division generates in North America to about a third
from 13 percent.
Assuming an operating margin of around 12 percent for Sun,
Berenberg said it expected the acquisition to add about 6
percent to Henkel's operating profit in 2017, which would rise
to 17 percent by 2019 thanks to revenue synergies.
Baader Bank analyst Christian Weiz said he estimated the
deal valued Sun Products at about 2.3 times sales, which he said
seemed very attractive, affirming his "buy" recommendation on
Henkel's stock.
Sun Products has around 2,000 employees at two production
sites and one research and development centre in the United
States.
Perella Weinberg Partners and Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) were financial
advisors to Henkel, while Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
acted as legal advisor. The acquisition will be fully
debt-financed and is underwritten by Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn), JP Morgan
and BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP).
($1 = 0.9042 euros)