Kimberly-Clark is buying Tylenol maker Kenvue in a cash and stock deal, creating a massive consumer health goods company.
In the deal worth about $US48.7 billion ($A74.5 billion), Kimberly-Clark shareholders will own about 54 per cent of the combined company while Kenvue shareholders will own about 46 per cent.
The combined company will have a large stable of household brands under one roof, putting Kenvue’s Tylenol medicine, Listerine mouthwash and Band-Aid side-by-side with Kimberly-Clark’s Cottonelle toilet paper, Huggies and Kleenex tissues.
It will also generate about $US32 billion in annual revenue.
Kimberly-Clark and Kenvue said that they identified about $US1.9 billion in cost savings that are expected in the first three years after the transaction’s closing.
“With a shared commitment to developing science and technology to provide extraordinary care, we will serve billions of consumers across every stage of life,” Kimberly-Clark chairman and CEO Mike Hsu said in a statement.
Hsu will be chairman and CEO of the combined company.
Three members of the Kenvue’s board will join Kimberly-Clark’s board at closing.
The combined company will keep Kimberly-Clark’s headquarters in Irving, Texas and continue to have a significant presence in Kenvue’s locations.
The deal is expected to close in the second half of next year.
It still needs approval from shareholders of both both companies.
Shares of Kimberly-Clark slipped 11.8 per cent on Wall Street while Kenvue’s stock jumped more than 17 per cent.
Australian Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national newswire and has been delivering accurate, reliable and fast news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We keep Australia informed.
