The Wall Street Journal (© Dow Jones + Co., Inc.)

OAKLAND, Calif. — Clorox Co. agreed to acquire Armor All Products Corp., which makes car-care products, for about $400 million, or $19.09 a share.

Armor All said its board approved the acquisition. McKesson Corp., which owns 55% of Armor All's common shares, said it plans to tender all of them to Clorox.

Trading in Armor All was halted as the acquisition plan was announced. It last traded at $17.50, unchanged, on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Clorox closed at $105.50, up 25 cents on the New York Stock Exchange, while San Francisco-based McKesson closed at $56.375, down 37.5 cents.

Clorox, which plans to fund the acquisition with cash and short-term borrowings, said the transaction will probably knock a total of 2% to 3% off earnings for the rest of fiscal 1997 and the first two quarters of fiscal 1998. Before the acquisition was announced, analysts surveyed by First Call projected Clorox would have earnings of $4.80 a share for the full 1997 fiscal year and $2.30 a share for the first six months of fiscal 1998.

Clorox makes and markets laundry and home-cleaning products, cat litter, charcoal briquets, insecticides and assorted food products.

Craig Sullivan, Clorox's chairman and chief executive, said the automotive-cleaner market is a favorable environment for Clorox's marketing strengths, especially with Armor All's strong brand name. About half of Armor All's products sell at outlets where Clorox products are sold, creating a chance to prune costs through more efficient deliveries, he said.

Armor All reported fiscal 1996 revenue of $186 million. A spokeswoman for McKesson said the Armor All sale is part of a plan to focus on distributing pharmaceutical products.

© 1996, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.