Kimberly-Clark Corporation announced that it has entered into an agreement with Suzano to form a strategic partnership, creating a preeminent international tissue and professional products company and sharpening Kimberly-Clark's focus on its higher growth, higher margin businesses. Kimberly-Clark will own a 49% interest in the new venture, which will include substantially all the assets of its International Family Care and Professional ("IFP") business, and Suzano will own 51%. Compelling Strategic and Financial Benefits: Creates a preeminent international tissue and professional products company with significant, new operational efficiency opportunities.
Since standing up IFP as a separate business in 2024, Kimberly-Clark has enhanced its margins and improved market share momentum. Joining forces with Suzano will enable the business to capture its full potential. The parties' combined capabilities and infrastructure is expected to reduce total delivered product costs and supply both branded and private label offerings across markets to benefit consumers and customers.
Sharpens Kimberly-Clark's Powering Care focus on proprietary, right to win spaces that improve its growth trajectory. The transaction focuses Kimberly-Clark on its higher growth and higher margin business segments ? North America and International Personal Care ?
and shifts its business mix towards its iconic, global brands. Upon completion of the transaction, approximately two-thirds of the Company's net revenues will come from personal care categories, improving its long-term growth trajectory, profitability and returns on investment. Optimizes value and enables return of capital to shareholders.
Through the venture, IFP is expected to create more value for shareholders than Kimberly-Clark could achieve running IFP on its own. Kimberly-Clark will receive meaningful upfront cash proceeds that it expects to return to shareholders through share repurchases following the close of the transaction. Improves cost management.
Following the completion of the transaction, Kimberly-Clark will reduce its exposure to more volatile input costs, enhancing its ability to deliver more predictable and consistent margins and profit growth over time.
