Kimberly-Clark, the consumer products giant that owns Kleenex and Huggies, said on Monday that it agreed to spend about $40 billion to acquire Kenvue, the embattled maker of Tylenol, which has fought unproven claims by the Trump administration that links the common pain reliever to autism.
Shares of Kenvue have plummeted this year as U.S. health officials have claimed, without new evidence, that acetaminophen — the active ingredient in Tylenol — was linked to autism. In September, President Trump said that pregnant women should “fight like hell not to take it.”
Shares of Kenvue rebounded strongly on the deal announcement, rising 20 percent in premarket trading. Kimberly-Clark’s stock fell about 15 percent, which if sustained would drag the company’s value down to a multiyear low.
Kenvue was spun off by Johnson & Johnson in 2023 to run the group’s consumer products division. Johnson & Johnson kept the more profitable, faster-growing businesses in pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Kenvue has struggled to find its footing as a stand-alone company, and the activist investment firm Starboard bought a stake in the company and pushed for change. In March, the chief executive of Starboard, Jeffrey Smith, took a seat on Kenvue’s board of directors.
In July, Kenvue announced the departure of its chief executive alongside a review of the company’s strategy.
Under the terms of the cash-and-stock deal with Kenvue, Kimberly-Clark shareholders would own roughly 54 percent of the new company. The combined group would generate about $32 billion in annual revenue and $7 billion in operating profit, the companies said. There are nearly $2 billion in “synergies” that could be achieved by cutting costs, which often means layoffs, in the three years after the companies combine, they added.
The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to approvals from shareholders and regulators. The companies said in a release announcing the deal that Kimberly-Clark had “carefully considered all risks and opportunities, working with some of the world’s foremost scientific, regulatory, legal and other experts.”
Mike Hsu, Kimberly-Clark’s chief executive, would become chairman and chief executive of the new company. The combined group would be based in Kimberly-Clark’s headquarters in Irving, Texas, and “continue to have a significant presence in Kenvue’s locations.” Kenvue moved to a new headquarters campus in Summit, N.J., earlier this year.
Lauren Hirsch is a Times reporter who covers deals and dealmakers in Wall Street and Washington.
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