DALLAS — Kimberly-Clark Corp. is accelerating preparations for its acquisition of Kenvue Inc., outlining plans to integrate technology, supply chain, procurement and commercial operations as it prepares to bring some of the world’s largest consumer health and personal care brands under one company.
Kimberly-Clark expects the transaction to close by the end of 2026 and said that integration planning is progressing across its workstreams. The deal, 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.
For the drug channel, the combination would unite Kenvue’s portfolio of OTC and personal care brands, including Tylenol, Neutrogena, Listerine, Aveeno, Band-Aid Brand, and Johnson’s, with Kimberly-Clark brands such as Kleenex, Huggies, Cottonelle, Depend, Poise, and Kotex.
Kimberly-Clark is targeting approximately $1.9 billion in cost synergies over the first three years following completion of the acquisition. The company has said it expects about 40% of those savings in the first year, another 40% in the second year, and the remaining 20% in the third year.
The company also expects approximately $500 million in incremental profit from revenue synergies, partially offset by about $300 million of reinvestment.
“We’re also making excellent progress toward closing our acquisition of Kenvue,” Kimberly-Clark chairman and chief executive officer Mike Hsu said during the company’s second-quarter business update. “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 has established 50 integration teams to identify savings opportunities and to develop plans for the combined business.
A significant share of the savings is expected to come from consolidating systems and eliminating duplication. Kimberly-Clark plans to consolidate thousands of applications and more than 15 enterprise resource planning systems, while reducing overlapping spending across areas such as service providers, media, information technology and data.
“Beyond the actions Kenvue is taking on their own, we’ve identified more than $600 million of savings, with half coming in year one from implementing our operating model, leveraging our combined scale in procurement and optimizing overlapping non-people spend in areas like service providers, media, IT and data,” Kimberly-Clark president and chief operating officer Russell Torres said.
Supply chain and commercial integration will be another major component of the effort. Kimberly-Clark plans to streamline supply chain planning, procurement, distribution and logistics, including integrating distribution platforms across the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, China and India.
The company also plans to integrate its sales and merchandising organizations. The combination could give the company greater scale with major retailers while expanding the reach of a portfolio spanning OTC medicines, oral care, skin health, baby care, feminine care, adult care, and other everyday health and personal care categories.
Kenvue also brings relationships with health care professionals, including dermatologists, dentists, and pediatricians. Kimberly-Clark has identified these professional connections as an opportunity to support growth across the combined portfolio.
The integration is being developed alongside Kimberly-Clark’s broader digital transformation.
The company recently rolled out Coupa, a global AI-powered procurement platform designed to increase visibility into spending. Kimberly-Clark has also developed an AI-enabled manufacturing agent that provides employees with access to more than 15 years of institutional knowledge.
Pilot programs showed that the manufacturing technology increased productivity on knowledge-search tasks by approximately 40% to 50%, according to the company. Kimberly-Clark is now working to scale the technology across its manufacturing network.
The company has also introduced an academy program covering 17 technical disciplines, including artificial intelligence, agile methodologies, and data visualization, as it works to build the workforce for a more digitally integrated supply chain.
“As we continue our digital transformation, we’re equipping our technologists with the capabilities needed to run the supply chain of the future,” Hsu said.
The acquisition comes as Kenvue pursues its own restructuring effort designed to simplify its operating model, transform its supply chain and improve efficiency. Kenvue expects approximately $250 million in pretax restructuring expenses and other charges during 2026.
Kenvue reported second-quarter net sales of approximately $4 billion, up 3% from a year earlier, with organic sales increasing 1.6%.
Kimberly-Clark reported second-quarter net sales of $4.2 billion, up 0.6%, while adjusted operating profit rose 6.2% to $757 million. Adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations increased 10.4% to $1.80.
Shareholders of both companies approved the transaction in January, and the waiting period under the U.S. Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust law expired in February. The deal remains subject to foreign regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
Kimberly-Clark expects to spend approximately $2.5 billion in cash to realize the planned synergies, 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.
“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.”
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