Scotts to Buy 2 Europe Lawn-Garden Firms

Scotts Co., whose lawn and garden products include Miracle-Gro and Hyponex brands, agreed to buy two European lawn and garden products companies--Rhone-Poulenc Jardin of France and Netherlands-based ASEF--for about $220 million combined. Rhone-Poulenc Jardin, the largest lawn and garden products company in Europe, is a unit of French drug maker Rhone-Poulenc. ASEF is privately held. Marysville, Ohio-based Scotts said it would finance the acquisitions with debt and that it expects the combined transactions to immediately add to earnings. It said the deals should largely complete the acquisitions program it launched last year. Scotts rose $1 to close at $37.38 on the NYSE.