Kimberly-Clark is buying Tylenol maker Kenvue in a cash and stock deal worth about US$48.7 billion, creating a massive consumer health goods company.

Shareholders of Kimberly-Clark , whose brands include Huggies, Kleenex and Cottonelle, will own about 54 per cent of the combined company. Kenvue shareholders will own about 46 per cent.

Kenvue has spent a relatively brief period as an independent company, having been spun off by Johnson & Johnson two years ago. J&J first announced in late 2021 that it was splitting its consumer health division from the pharmaceutical and medical device divisions in a bid to make each more nimble.

Kenvue was thrust into the national spotlight last month when Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. reasserted the unproven link between the pain reliever

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