Huggies, manufactured by Kimberly-Clark and Band-Aid, manufactured by Kenvue.

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Kimberly-Clark announced Monday it’s struck an agreement to buy Kenvue in a deal valued at $48.7 billion that would create a consumer staples giant.

The deal is a combination of cash and stock. Shares of Kenvue surged 15% in early trading Monday, while Kimberly-Clark fell 12%.

The combined company would bring together brands like Huggies and Kleenex with the likes of Band-Aid and Tylenol. It would include 10 billion-dollar brands, the companies said in a news release. The acquisition would be one of the largest on Wall Street this year.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026.

Kimberly-Clark Chairman and CEO Mike Hsu said in a statement that the companies share a “commitment to developing science and technology to provide extraordinary care.”

“Over the last several years, Kimberly-Clark has undertaken a significant transformation to pivot our portfolio to higher-growth, higher-margin businesses while rewiring our organization to work smarter and faster,” Hsu said. “We have built the foundation and this transaction is a powerful next step in our journey.”

Kenvue, a portfolio of consumer health brands, spun out of Johnson & Johnson in May 2023, marking the biggest shake-up in J&J’s nearly 140-year history. Since then, Kenvue shares have fallen almost 35% from their initial public offering price. As of Friday’s close, Kenvue traded at about $14 per share for a market cap of roughly $27 billion.

J&J has sold all of its remaining stake in the consumer goods giant.

The deal comes just weeks after President Donald Trump made unfounded claims linking the use of acetaminophen — the active ingredient in Tylenol — during pregnancy to an increased risk of autism, sending Kenvue’s stock sharply lower. The company has staunchly pushed back against his administration’s accusation, and many medical experts say Tylenol is often the safest and only option for pain and fever relief in pregnant women.

Acetaminophen is used by upward of 100 million Americans annually.

Kenvue Chair Larry Merlo said in a statement that following a comprehensive strategic review, the board is “confident this combination represents the best path forward for our shareholders and all other stakeholders.”

Three Kenvue board members will join the Kimberly-Clark board upon the deal’s closing. Hsu will continue to serve as chairman and CEO.

The combined company would generate estimated 2025 annual net revenue of roughly $32 billion and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of approximately $7 billion, according to the release.

Kimberly-Clark and Kenvue expect about $1.9 billion in cost synergies from the transaction to be realized in the first three years following the deal’s close.

The acquisition comes as Kimberly-Clark and the broader consumer packaged goods industry try to address shifting demand and shopping behavior, often through deal-making and divestitures.

Tariffs imposed by Trump’s administration have challenged the industry and its profits as key commodities like pulp, which is used to make tissues and diapers, grow more expensive.

At the beginning of 2025, Kimberly-Clark stopped making private-label diapers for Costco to focus on more premium brands that command higher margins.

In June, the company sold a majority stake in its international tissue business to Brazilian pulp maker Suzano. The resulting joint venture is intended to shield Kimberly-Clark from volatile input costs and help stabilize its margins.

Once the deal closes, Kimberly-Clark will own health-care brands like Sudafed and Pepcid, once again pitting the company against rival Procter & Gamble, which has a health-care division that includes Pepto-Bismol and Vicks.

But even with Kimberly-Clark’s blockbuster acquisition, P&G still dwarfs its rival in both enterprise value and annual revenue. P&G has a market cap of about $350 billion.

Similar to Kenvue, other spinoffs have also recently proven to be popular acquisition targets. Last year, candy maker Mars announced plans to buy Kellanova, a snacking-centric spinoff of Kellogg, while Ferrero bought W.K. Kellogg, the cereal stand-alone, this year.

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Kenvue Inc. Tylenol brand pain reliever for sale at a pharmacy in New York, US, on Wednesday, March 27, 2024.

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Shares of Kenvue fell more than 10% on Friday after a report that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will likely link autism to the use of the company’s pain medication Tylenol in pregnant women. 

HHS will release the report that could draw that link this month, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

That report will also suggest a medicine derived from folate – a water-soluble vitamin – can be used to treat symptoms of the developmental disorder in some people, according to the Journal.

In a statement, an HHS spokesperson said “We are using gold-standard science to get to the bottom of America’s unprecedented rise in autism rates.” 

“Until we release the final report, any claims about its contents are nothing more than speculation,” they added. 

Tylenol could be the latest widely used and accepted treatment that Kennedy has undermined at the helm of HHS, which oversees federal health agencies that regulate drugs and other therapies. Kennedy has also taken steps to change vaccine policy in the U.S., and has amplified false claims about safe and effective shots that use mRNA technology.

Kennedy has made the disorder a key focus of HHS, pledging in April that the agency will “know what has caused the autism epidemic” by September and eliminate exposures. He also said that month that the agency has launched a “massive testing and research effort” involving hundreds of scientists worldwide that will determine the cause.

In a statement, Kenvue said it has “continuously evaluated the science and [continues] to believe there is no causal link” between the use of acetaminophen, the generic name for Tylenol, during pregnancy and autism.

The company added that the Food and Drug Administration and leading medical organizations “agree on the safety” of the drug, its use during pregnancy and the information provided on the Tylenol label.

The FDA website says the agency has not found “clear evidence” that appropriate use of acetaminophen during pregnancy causes “adverse pregnancy, birth, neurobehavioral, or developmental outcomes.” But the FDA said it advises pregnant women to speak with their health-care providers before using over-the-counter drugs.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists maintains that acetaminophen is safe during pregnancy when taken as directed and after consulting a health-care provider. 

Some previous studies have suggested the drug poses risks to fetal development, and some parents have brought lawsuits claiming that they gave birth to children with autism after using it.

But a federal judge in Manhattan ruled in 2023 that some of those lawsuits lacked scientific evidence and later ended the litigation in 2024. Some research has also found no association between acetaminophen use and autism.

In a note on Friday, BNP Paribas analyst Navann Ty said the firm believes the “hurdle to proving causation [between the drug and autism] is high, particularly given that the litigation previously concluded in Kenvue’s favor.”

— CNBC’s Angelica Peebles contributed to this report.

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