Kimberly-Clark completed its acquisition of Kenvue, the maker of Tylenol, on Monday, valuing the company at almost $49 billion including debt; KMB shares rose 0.3% that session to close at $108.25. The company reaffirmed its deal targets of $1.9 billion in reduced costs and expenses within three years, plus $500 million in incremental profit from higher revenue, partially offset by $300 million in reinvestments. CEO Michael Hsu said Kimberly-Clark is further along than Kenvue in building consumer packaged goods capabilities and expects the combination to accelerate Kenvue's growth across categories he sees as very underdeveloped. Amid higher input costs tied to the Iran war, Hsu said the company will balance pricing with affordability for cash-strapped middle- and lower-income consumers, noting it absorbed about $3.4 billion of inflation over two years after Covid, versus a few hundred million dollars now for the two companies combined. Kimberly-Clark also inherits legal and reputational risks tied to Tylenol, which has faced litigation.
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