Kenvue, the wholly owned consumer healthcare subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson (J&J), closed on its initial public offering (IPO) earlier this week (May 8, 2023). The IPO closed with 198,734,444 shares of its common stock offered at an initial price to the public of $22.00 per share, including the underwriters’ full exercise of their option to purchase 25,921,884 shares to cover over-allotments. Shares of Kenvue’s common stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on May 4, 2023.  

Kenvue was formed by the spin-off of J&J’s consumer healthcare business into a separate, stand-alone company. J&J had announced in November 2021 its plans to split J&J into two separate, standalone, publicly traded companies, one focused on pharmaceuticals and medical devices, and the other on consumer health.  

As of the closing of the IPO, J&J owns approximately 89.6% of the total outstanding shares of Kenvue’s common stock. J&J has publicly stated that it has an intention to dispose of its majority stake in Kenvue common stock in 2023, subject to market conditions. The net proceeds from the IPO will be paid to J&J as partial consideration for the consumer health businesses that J&J transferred to Kenvue in connection with the IPO. 

Kenvue is led by Thibaut Mongon, CEO, who formerly was Executive Vice President and Worldwide Chairman, Consumer Health at J&J, and was part of J&J’s Executive Committee and Chair of the company’s Consumer Health Leadership Team. In 2022, Kenvue posted net sales of $15 billion.  

Source: Kenvue (close of IPO), Kenvue (NYSE trading opens), and Kenvue (IPO announcement)