The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Thursday cleared the anticipated joint venture between Suzano International Kimberly-Clark Corporation.
The competition watchdog initiated its phase 1 investigation into the proposed $3.4 billion (£2.5bn) deal in March. The CMA said the detailed findings will be published shortly.
First announced in June 2025, the deal will see Brazil’s Suzano, the world’s largest pulp producer, acquire a 51 per cent controlling stake in a newly created joint venture, with Kimberly-Clark retaining the remaining 49 per cent. Suzano is set to pay $1.734bn in cash for its share, subject to customary adjustments.
The new entity, to be incorporated in the Netherlands, will focus on the manufacture, marketing and distribution of consumer and professional tissue products, including toilet paper, paper towels, napkins and facial tissues. It will operate across more than 70 countries, supported by a network of 22 manufacturing facilities spanning 14 countries across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas.
As part of the agreement, Kimberly-Clark, a global leader in the consumer staples industry, will retain its consumer tissue and professional operations in the US, along with its interests in existing joint ventures in markets such as Mexico, South Korea and Bahrain.
The transaction also includes the transfer of more than 40 regional brands from Kimberly-Clark’s international family care and professional portfolio into the new company. In addition, the joint venture will enter into a long-term licensing agreement to use a number of Kimberly-Clark’s global brands, including Kleenex, Scott, Cottonelle, WypAll, Viva and Kimberly-Clark Professional.
Suzano is currently a leading player in toilet paper in Brazil, following the 2023 acquisition of Kimberly-Clark’s Brazilian tissue assets and brands.
Kimberly-Clark is also progressing with a separate deal to acquire consumer health major Kenvue.
In January, both firms secured overwhelming shareholder backing for their proposed $48.7bn merger, which would bring together Kimberly-Clark’s tissue and personal care portfolio with Kenvue’s consumer health stable spanning names like Listerine, Neutrogena and Tylenol, forming what the companies have described as a global health and wellness leader.
Subject to regulatory approvals and customary conditions, that deal is expected to complete in the second half of 2026 and would create a combined group with annual revenues of around $32bn.