Energizer buys Playtex

Energizer (NYSE: ENR), the battery and razor company, is buying Playtex (NYSE: PYX), the sunscreen and feminine care product company, for a bit less than $1.2 billion plus debt. The purchase price is about 18% above where Playtex was trading.

Reuters quotes the head of Energizer as saying: "We see Playtex as an exceptionally great fit with Energizer, with similar customers and distribution channels in the U.S. and Canada, and the opportunity for geographic expansion."

M&A transactions are obviously on the rise, but what a battery company would want a feminine care products operation seems a bit hard to explain. Distribution channel duplication may save some money, but it would seem to end there.

Playtex also looks expensive. The company is at a 52-week high, almost $16 up from well under $10 last July. And Energizer is paying a substantial premium. Perhaps it can afford to -- its shares are up 90% over the last year.

No matter how investors look at the merger, it is an odd combination.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.