Jarden's last major deal was in 2010

Jarden's last major deal was in 2010, when it paid $450 million for a group of household and infant-care brands that included Nuk baby products from French oil company Total FP.FR -1.30% SA.The Yankee Candle purchase ranks as Jarden's largest acquisition to date.Yankee Candle booked $56.3 million in profit in the year to Dec. 29 on sales up 7.4% to $844.2 million, according to regulatory filings. Yankee Candle CEO Harlan Kent will continue to run the business.Jarden, whose sales were flat at $6.7 billion last year, has a market capitalization of $4.84 billion as of Friday's market close.

The price Jarden is paying is about eight times Yankee Candle's projected earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization—a measure of its cash flow.In the four quarters through June 29, Yankee Candle's adjusted Ebitda was about $200 million, according to its filings.When Madison Dearborn bought Yankee Candle in 2007, the price it paid was about 8.6 times Yankee Candle's Ebitda at the time. The company previously borrowed from the debt markets in 2011 to pay Madison Dearborn a $300 million dividend. The sale to Jarden will bring Madison Dearborn's return to about two times its investment in Yankee Candle, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Consumer products maker Jarden Corp. JAH +10.43% has agreed to buy the nation's largest maker of scented candles for $1.75 billion in cash, a deal that comes after Yankee Candle's private-equity owners dropped a plan to sell it earlier this year.Jarden isn't a household name but owns dozens of well-known brands including Crock-Pot slow cookers, Rawlings baseball equipment and Sunbeam home appliances. The collection appears hodgepodge but reflects a strategy of buying leading brands in specialized niches, and expanding sales.

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