DALLAS — Kimberly-Clark Corp. is accelerating preparations for its acquisition of Kenvue Inc., outlining plans to consolidate technology, supply chain, procurement and commercial operations as it works toward completing one of the largest consumer-products transactions in recent years.
The company said its regulatory process remains on track and that integration planning is progressing across its workstreams. Kimberly-Clark expects the transaction to close by the end of 2026.
The acquisition, announced in November 2025, values Kenvue at an enterprise value of approximately $48.7 billion and would create a health and wellness company with approximately $32 billion in annual net revenue, based on 2025 projections. The combined portfolio would include 10 billion-dollar brands across personal care and consumer health.
Kimberly-Clark has identified approximately $1.9 billion in cost synergies it expects to capture over the first three years after the transaction. The company also expects about $500 million in incremental profit from revenue synergies, partially offset by about $300 million in reinvestment.
The company has previously said it expects roughly 40% of the cost synergies to be achieved in the first year after closing, another 40% in the second year, and the remaining 20% in the third year.
During Kimberly-Clark’s second-quarter business update, chairman and chief executive officer Mike Hsu said the company’s confidence in the combination has grown as integration planning has advanced.
“We’re also making excellent progress toward closing our acquisition of Kenvue,” Hsu said. “The regulatory process is on track, and integration planning is progressing well across all workstreams. The closer we look, the better it gets.”
Kimberly-Clark’s integration strategy is expected to span procurement, manufacturing, distribution, technology, and commercial operations. The company aims to reduce duplication while applying the operating model developed during its Powering Care transformation to Kenvue’s consumer health portfolio.
That portfolio would significantly expand Kimberly-Clark’s presence in health and wellness. Kenvue owns brands such as Tylenol, Neutrogena, Listerine, Aveeno, Band-Aid Brand and Johnson’s, while Kimberly-Clark’s portfolio includes Huggies, Kleenex, Cottonelle, Depend, Poise and Kotex.
The combination also gives Kimberly-Clark additional relationships with health care professionals, including dermatologists, dentists, and pediatricians, which the company has identified as a potential advantage for the broader portfolio.
Kimberly-Clark said when the transaction was announced that the combined company would seek growth by bringing the companies’ complementary brands into additional categories and markets while increasing investment in research and development, innovation and marketing.
The integration comes as Kimberly-Clark is already overhauling its operations through automation, artificial intelligence and supply chain technology.
The company recently deployed Coupa across the enterprise as a single, global, AI-powered procurement platform to provide greater visibility into spending. It has also introduced an AI-powered manufacturing agent that gives employees access to more than 15 years of institutional knowledge.
Pilot results showed that the manufacturing tool made employees approximately 40% to 50% more productive on knowledge-search tasks, according to Kimberly-Clark. The company is now scaling the technology across its manufacturing network.
Kimberly-Clark has also launched an academy-based training program covering 17 areas, including artificial intelligence, agile methodologies, and data visualization. The company said the program has produced a 60% increase in skill growth among more than 650 participants.
The technology investments are part of a broader productivity program that Kimberly-Clark says delivers savings of 5% to 6% of adjusted cost of goods sold annually. Second-quarter gross productivity exceeded 6% of adjusted cost of goods sold.
The company is pursuing those efficiencies while reshaping its portfolio. On July 1, Kimberly-Clark and Suzano launched Arbex, an independent tissue and hygiene company formed through their $3.4 billion joint venture. Arbex operates in more than 70 markets, with 22 manufacturing sites across 14 countries, and includes brands such as Kleenex, Scott, Cottonelle, Andrex, and Viva in markets covered by the venture.
Kimberly-Clark said the transaction allows it to sharpen its focus on higher-value personal care opportunities while reducing earnings volatility.
The Kenvue acquisition represents the next and considerably larger phase of that transformation.
Shareholders of both companies approved the transaction in January. The waiting period under the U.S. Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust law expired in February, while completion remains subject to foreign regulatory approvals and other closing conditions.
Kenvue is simultaneously pursuing its own restructuring program. The company said in its second-quarter disclosures that the initiative is intended to optimize its operating model, transform its supply chain, reduce complexity and improve operating efficiency. Kenvue expects approximately $250 million in pretax restructuring expenses and other charges during 2026.
The consumer health company reported second-quarter net sales of approximately $4 billion, up 3% from the prior-year period, while organic sales increased 1.6%.
Kimberly-Clark, meanwhile, reported second-quarter net sales of $4.2 billion, up 0.6%, while adjusted operating profit increased 6.2% to $757 million. Adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations increased 10.4% to $1.80.
Kenvue is pursuing its own restructuring program. The company said in its second-quarter disclosures that the initiative aims to optimize its operating model, transform its supply chain, reduce complexity, and improve operating efficiency. Kenvue expects approximately $250 million in pretax restructuring expenses and other charges in 2026. However, the company lowered its full-year earnings outlook, primarily due to a disruption in its diaper business in China. Kimberly-Clark now expects adjusted EPS attributable to the company to decline at a low-single-digit rate on a constant-currency basis.
Despite near-term pressures, Kimberly-Clark is increasing investment in its transformation. The company expects about $1.3 billion in capital spending this year, up from $1.1 billion in 2025, while still forecasting about $2 billion in adjusted free cash flow.
Kimberly-Clark estimates that achieving the Kenvue synergies will require approximately $2.5 billion in cash costs, primarily in the first two years after closing. The company expects the transaction to become accretive to adjusted earnings per share in the second year after completion.
“We will be ready to hit the ground running at close,” Hsu said. “We have a generational opportunity to create a new kind of health and wellness company, to reimagine care for billions of consumers around the world, and to create lasting value for shareholders.”
Submit Your Press Release
Have news to share? Send us your press releases and announcements.
Send Press Release
