Kimberly-Clark buys Tylenol maker Kenvue for more than $48 billion

Kimberly-Clark has agreed to buy Tylenol maker Kenvue for about $48.7 billion, sending the drug manufacturer’s shares soaring 18% in premarket trading Monday.

The deal will create a new consumer health giant, bringing Kenvue under the wing of the maker of Kleenex tissues and Huggies diapers. Kenvue CEO Kirk Perry said it would allow the company to “innovate even faster.”

Kenvue has been under pressure in recent weeks amid attacks by the Trump administration on Tylenol, its most recognizable product. President Donald Trump urged pregnant women not to take the painkiller in September, baselessly claiming that it can cause autism. Kenvue has noted that the claim is not supported by scientific evidence, and medical professionals expressed alarm at Trump's claims.

But the drugmaker’s troubles go back further. Its shares have slumped since it was spun off from Johnson & Johnson in 2023, after repeated disappointing earnings. Former Kenvue CEO Thibaut Mongon left in July.

Kenvue stock was buoyed on the news that the deal valued the company at about $40 billion. Including some Kimberly-Clark shares that will go to current Kenvue holders, the deal has a total value of $48.7 billion, according to a Monday statement. Kimberly-Clark shareholders will own 54% of the new company and Kenvue shareholders will get the remainder. Kimberly-Clark shares fell as much as 14% in premarket trading.

Perry said the deal “unites two highly complementary portfolios filled with iconic, beloved brands and everyday essentials that people trust and count on throughout their lives.”

Kenvue also makes Neutrogena lotion, Listerine mouthwash, and Band-Aid products. The new consumer health giant would have combined annual revenues of about $32 billion.

Kimberly-Clark CEO Mike Hsu said Kenvue is “uniquely positioned at the intersection of CPG and healthcare.” He added that the two companies combined “will serve billions of consumers across every stage of life.”

Hsu is expected to stay on as CEO when the deal completes in the second half of next year.

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