Tylenol, Kleenex, Band-Aid and more put under one roof in $48.7 billion consumer brands deal

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN Associated Press Kimberly-Clark is buying Tylenol maker Kenvue in a cash and stock deal worth about billion creating a massive consumer physical condition goods company Shareholders of Kimberly-Clark will own about of the combined company Kenvue shareholders will own about in what is one of the largest corporate takeovers this year The combined company will have a huge stable of household brands under one roof putting Kenvue s Listerine mouthwash and Band-Aid side-by-side with Kimberly-Clark s Cottonelle toilet paper Huggies and Kleenex tissues It will also generate about billion in annual revenue Kenvue has spent a relatively brief period as an independent company having been spun off by Johnson Johnson two years ago J J first communicated in late that it was splitting its slow-growth consumer strength division from the pharmaceutical and healthcare device divisions Kenvue has since been targeted by activist investors unhappy about the trajectory of the company and Wall Street appeared to anticipate specific heavy lifting ahead for Kimberly-Clark Shares of Kimberly-Clark based in just outside of Dallas slumped Monday Kenvue s stock jumped more than Related Articles How to create daily rituals to boost your focus Ticker PMC gifts M for cancer research Disney lays off in California Cybertruck fleet to patrol Las Vegas Catastrophic hack underscores populace defender assurance gaps When to use a personal loan to pay off credit card debt Kenvue and Tylenol have been thrust into the national spotlight this year as President Donald Trump and Strength Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr promoted unproven and in chosen cases discredited ties between Tylenol vaccines and the complex brain disorder autism Trump then urged pregnant women against using the medicine That went beyond Food and Drug Administration advice that doctors should consider minimizing the painkiller acetaminophen s use in pregnancy amid inconclusive evidence about whether too much could be linked to autism Kennedy reiterated the FDA guidance during a press conference last week He disclosed that there isn t sufficient evidence to link the drug to autism We have demanded physicians to minimize the use to when its absolutely necessary he revealed Kenvue has continued to push back on the Trump administration s dialogue Nothing is more central to us than the healthcare and safety of the people who use our products Kenvue mentioned in a message on its website We believe independent sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism We strongly disagree with charges that it does and are deeply concerned about the healthcare risks and confusion this poses for expecting mothers and parents In July Kenvue reported that CEO Thibaut Mongon was leaving in the midst of a strategic review with the company under mounting pressure from activist investors Kimberly-Clark Chairman and CEO Mike 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 but there will be vital operations around Kenvue facilities and locations as well The deal is expected to close in the second half of next year It still requirements approval from shareholders of both both companies Kenvue shareholders will receive per share in cash and Kimberly-Clark shares for each Kenvue share held at closing That amounts to per share based on the closing price of Kimberly-Clark shares on Friday Kimberly-Clark and Kenvue explained that they identified about billion in cost savings that are expected in the first three years after the transaction s closing AP Vitality Writer Tom Murphy contributed to this account