Kenvue is exploring the sale of a few of its pores and skin well being and wonder manufacturers, 4 folks conversant in the matter mentioned, as the buyer well being agency prunes an underperforming enterprise section to concentrate on core merchandise.
The corporate, which was spun out of Johnson & Johnson in 2023, is zeroing in on smaller manufacturers within the unit to promote resembling Clear & Clear, Maui Moisture, Neostrata, its German child care model Bebe, and Japanese model Dr.Ci:Labo, the sources mentioned.
It plans to carry onto the larger names within the unit, resembling Neutrogena and Aveeno, the sources mentioned. There are a few dozen manufacturers within the pores and skin well being and wonder unit, and sources cautioned that the divestiture bundle might change and no deal was assured.
Funding bankers at Goldman Sachs are working with Kenvue on the divestment course of, they added.
Kenvue and Goldman declined to remark.
The round half-dozen manufacturers earmarked on the market would generate greater than $500 million of income collectively, two of the sources mentioned, a small portion of Kenvue’s total income, which was $15.5 billion in 2024.
Drag On Earnings
The pores and skin well being and wonder unit has been a drag on Kenvue’s earnings, however the firm has devoted extra money to advertising and marketing, particularly on Neutrogena advert campaigns.
The unit’s natural gross sales declined 4.8% year-over-year in Kenvue’s newest quarter that ended March 30.
Kenvue, which additionally makes Tylenol and Band-Aids, has confronted activist stress over the past yr from Starboard Worth, Toms Capital Administration and Third Level.
It settled with Starboard in March, when it added the funding agency’s founder to its board.
A number of the activists have been pushing the corporate to contemplate promoting itself or sure manufacturers.
In Could, the corporate introduced on new chief monetary officer Amit Banati from Kellanova, Kellogg’s spun-out snacking unit.
