Wide consumption

Kleenex, Kimberly-Clark sells tissue area for non-US market

A $3.5 billion deal with Brazil's Suzano approached. The US giant will focus on Huggies nappies and Scott toilet paper

5 June 2025

Kimberly-Clark vende l’area tissue per il mercato extra Usa

2' min read

Kimberly-Clark is close to selling its Kleenex and tissue business outside North America for around $3.5 billion, as part of toilet paper maker Scott and nappy maker Huggies' attempt to focus on more profitable areas, according to people familiar with the matter.

Details

The consumer products company is ready to sell the division to Suzano, the large pulp producer based in Brazil. The deal could be finalised as early as Thursday, provided the negotiations do not suffer any last-minute hitches.

Kimberly-Clark's activities in the tissue business, outside North America, target everyday consumers and business customers with products such as Andrex toilet paper and WypAll cleaning cloths.

The sale of this business would tie in with Kimberly-Clark's efforts in 2024 to reorganise itself into three units, betting that a new structure would give it a competitive advantage to boost profits and a falling share price.

Kimberly-Clark's shares have risen 5% since the start of the year, slightly outperforming the S&P 500 after underperforming in recent years.

The context

Kimberly-Clark has been working to clean up its brand portfolio. Last year it signed the $640 million sale to Australia's Ansell of a business that makes protective gloves, goggles and other apparel.

Kimberly-Clark's international tissue business, known as the International Family Care & Professional segment, is the smallest of the three main divisions, with annual net sales of less than $3.5 billion. The unit also posted the lowest profit margins of the three, underlining Kimberly-Clark's interest in selling.

A sale would leave Kimberly-Clark with the North American division, the company's largest, with net sales of about $11 billion last year, and the international personal care division, with net sales of about $5.7 billion in 2024.

Suzano's new role

Any deal would give Suzano a big boost in the global tissue market. In 2023, Suzano acquired Kimberly-Clark's tissue business in Brazil, increasing its market share.

Suzano's CEO, Beto Abreu, who took office last July, said the company is pursuing mergers and acquisitions. Last summer it had to abandon takeover talks with International Paper after failing to conclude a deal.

Just last month, Kimberly-Clark, a group based in Dallas, Texas, let it be known that it will invest $2 billion to expand its production capacity in the US over five years, making a long-term bet on the American consumer.