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Tool maker Stanley Works SWK-N is buying rival Black & Decker Corp. BDK-N for $4.5-billion (U.S.), the two companies said Monday, uniting two of their industry's most iconic brands.

The deal would create the largest U.S. tool maker, Morningstar analyst Anthony Dayrit said.

Stanley shareholders will own about 50.5 per cent of the combined company, which will be called Stanley Black & Decker. Black & Decker shareholders will hold a 49.5 per cent stake after the all-stock deal is complete.

“This is a unique opportunity to bring together two great companies, each with first-rate brands, and provide enhanced opportunities to generate superior returns as we build on this new, larger platform,” Stanley chairman John Lundgren, who will be president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Black & Decker shareholders are to receive about 1.28 shares of Stanley Works for each share they own. The nine members of Stanley Works' board will remain in place and be joined by six new members from Black & Decker's current board.

The deal will cut costs by $350-million within three years, likely in part through job cuts, and increase earnings per share by $1 within three years, the companies said.

Executives said most of the savings will come from reducing corporate overhead and consolidating business units and manufacturing, distribution and purchasing.

James Lucas, managing director of Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, said there is little overlap in the two companies' products — with Stanley being a leader in consumer and industrial hand tools and security, and Black & Decker in power tools.

Mr. Lucas said it was too soon to speculate about how the deal will affect jobs, but the two companies have different processes and therefore different plants.

Black & Decker, based in Towson, Md., has 22,100 workers. Stanley Works, based in New Britain, Conn., has 18,200 workers. The combined company's corporate headquarters will remain in Connecticut while its power tool division will remain headquartered in Maryland.

Stanley Works' brands include its Stanley tools line and FatMax, Bostitch and Mac Tools, which are used on cars. In addition to its namesake line, Black & Decker owns DeWalt, Porter-Cable, Kwikset and Baldwin brands, which are popular with both consumers and professionals.

Mr. Dayrit said space remains for smaller tool makers that make up most of the industry.

“There's a lot of smaller players who make cheaper tools,” he said. “I think these guys will still be competitive because you have consumers that won't be willing to pay up for the quality of a Black & Decker tool.”

Each company's board of directors has signed off on the deal, but it still must win regulatory and shareholder approval. It's expected to close in the first half of 2010.