By Lauren Thomas and Ben Dummett

Kimberly-Clark is nearing a sale of its Kleenex and tissue businesses outside of North America for around $3.5 billion, part of an attempt by the maker of Scott toilet paper and Huggies diapers to focus on more profitable areas, according to people familiar with the matter.

The details

The consumer-products company is set to sell the division to Suzano, the big pulp producer based in Brazil, the people said. A deal could be completed as soon as Thursday, as long as the talks don't hit any last-minute snags.

Kimberly-Clark's tissue business outside of North America services everyday consumers as well as business customers with products such as Andrex toilet paper and WypAll cleaning cloths.

The sale of that business would dovetail with Kimberly-Clark's efforts in 2024 to reorganize into three units, betting that a fresh structure would give it a competitive edge to boost profits and a lagging share price.

Kimberly-Clark shares are up about 5% so far this year, slightly outperforming the S&P 500 after having underperformed in recent years.

The context

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

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

A sale would leave Kimberly-Clark with its North America business, the company's largest, with net sales last year of around $11 billion, as well as its international personal-care division, which booked net sales of about $5.7 billion in 2024.

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

Suzano Chief Executive Officer Beto Abreu, who took over last July, has said the company is looking to pursue mergers and acquisitions. (Last summer, it had to abandon takeover talks with International Paper after being unable to clinch a deal.)

Just last month, Dallas-based Kimberly-Clark said it would be investing $2 billion to expand its U.S. manufacturing capabilities over five years, making a long-term bet on the American consumer.

Write to Lauren Thomas at lauren.thomas@wsj.com and Ben Dummett at ben.dummett@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 04, 2025 21:47 ET (01:47 GMT)

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