Essity completes the acquisition of Edgewell's feminine care business
Hygiene and health company Essity has completed the acquisition of Edgewell Personal Care's feminine care business, including the Carefree, Stayfree and o.b. brands in North America and global feminine care rights for the Playtex brand. The purchase price for the assets amounts to USD 340m (approximately SEK 3bn) on a cash and debt-free basis. The acquisition supports Essity's strategy to focus on high margin categories and to grow market positions in the US, the world's largest hygiene market.
The completed asset deal includes a broad product portfolio of liners, pads and tampons under well-known brands in the US, Canada, and the Caribbean as well as a production facility in Dover, Delaware. The operations will be consolidated into Essity's accounts as of February 2, 2026.
"As we finalize this acquisition, we look forward to accelerating the growth of these well-known brands using our established recipe for success within Feminine Care. This strengthens Essity's personal care business in North America and supports our ambition to grow in high yielding categories and key geographies," says Ulrika Kolsrud, President and CEO of Essity.
Essity is a fast-growing player in the feminine care category, with several strong regional brands such as Libresse, Bodyform, Nana, Saba, Libra, Nosotras, Knix and Modibodi offering a broad product portfolio of pads, liners, tampons, intimate soaps, intimate wipes, leakproof apparel and menstrual cups.
Contact information
Sandra Åberg, Vice President Investor Relations, Tel: +46 (0) 70 564 96 89, sandra.aberg@essity.com
Per Lorentz, Vice President Corporate Affairs, Tel: +46 (0) 73 313 30 55, per.lorentz@essity.com
Essity completes the acquisition of Edgewell's feminine care business (PDF)
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Essity AB (publ) published this content on February 02, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on February 02, 2026 at 17:25 UTC.
Essity AB is one of the world's leading manufacturers of hygiene products. Net sales break down by family of products as follows:
- human care products (54.2%): incontinence products (Tena), feminine protection products (Libresse, Bodyform, Nana, Nuvenia, Saba, Nosotras, Donnasept, etc.), diapers (Libero, Up & Go, Libero-Peaudouce, Drypers, Pequenin, etc.), compresses and bandages.
- paper hygiene products (26.1%): paper towels, toilet paper, handkerchiefs, wipes, etc. sold under Tempo, Colhogar, Cozy, Cushelle, Danke, Delica, Demak Up, Favorita, Flen, Lotus, Lovly, Okay, Plenty, Regio and Zewa brands;
- professional hygiene products (19.7%): including toilet paper, handkerchiefs, hand lotions and hand soaps, hand sanitizers, as well as cleaning and wiping products.
At the end of 2024, the group operated around 70 production sites in the world.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: Europe (60.2%), Latin America (17.5%), North America (16.9%), Asia (1.7%), and others (3.7%).
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