Van Nuys-based Easton Sports Inc and Riddell Bell Holdings on Tuesday announced an agreement to merge into a combined sports equipment company called Easton-Bell Sports Inc.

Easton’s Chairman, Jim Easton, will be the chairman of the combined company. Financial details of the agreement were not released. The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of the year.

Easton-Bell Sports will generate more than $600 million in annual revenue and will hold leading market positions in equipment for baseball, softball, football, hockey, cycling, auto racing, and snow and motorcycle sports, the companies said in a joint statement.

“The combination of our two companies will create a best-in-class sporting goods company with leading market positions in several unique sports,” said Tony Palma, Easton Sports’ president and chief executive.

Easton, an 84-year-old company, employs over 1,200 people worldwide and maintains facilities in Utah, California, Mexico, Canada and Asia.

Riddel Bell, based in Dallas, is a developer of head protection equipment for a number of sports. The company was formed in 2004 when L.A.-based private equity firm Fenway Partners Inc. acquired Bell Sports Corp. for $240 million from an investor group. The transaction merged Bell Sports and Riddell Sports Group, which Fenway purchased in June 2003.

Riddell was founded in Chicago in 1929 as a performance footwear company. Bell Sports was founded in 1954 in Bell.