Tylenol, which incorporates acetaminophen, has been on the heart of a disputed declare that it’s linked to autism.
Scott Olson/Getty Pictures North America
cover caption
toggle caption
Scott Olson/Getty Pictures North America
Client large Kimberly-Clark, which makes Huggies diapers and Kleenex tissues, is shopping for the corporate that makes Tylenol and Band-Aids in one of many greatest mergers of the yr.
The deal, value nearly $49 billion, comes at a very troublesome time for Tylenol-maker Kenvue, after the Trump administration linked acetaminophen — the energetic ingredient on this frequent painkiller — to autism. The assertions got here regardless of an absence of clear scientific proof, and Kenvue has known as them merely false.
For Kimberly-Clark, the deal provides a brand new swath of client manufacturers. In addition to Tylenol, Kenvue additionally owns different pharmacy mainstays equivalent to Band-Assist, Listerine, Neutrogena and Aveeno.
Kimberly-Clark CEO Mike Hsu mentioned in Monday’s announcement, that the 2 “iconic firms” would create “a world well being and wellness chief.”
Executives from each firms mentioned the mixed entity would serve folks “at each stage of life” and profit from Kenvue’s relationships with dermatologists, dentists, pediatricians and different healthcare professionals.
Kimberly-Clark has been trying to problem the dominance of client goliath Procter & Gamble, whose enterprise spans all drugstore aisles, together with chilly and digestion medicines.
And Kenvue has been on the promoting block for some time now, ever because it was spun off from Johnson & Johnson in 2023. Its share value collapsed a number of months after going public, shedding a 3rd of its worth for the reason that begin of the yr earlier than Monday’s information.
On Monday morning, Kenvue’s inventory value jumped round 17%, whereas Kimberly-Clark’s fell about 12%.
