Johnson & Johnson Announces Plans to Accelerate Innovation, Serve Patients and Consumers, and Unlock Value through Intent to Separate Consumer Health Business

Johnson & Johnson announced its intent to separate the Company’s Consumer Health business, creating a new publicly traded company. The planned separation would create two global leaders that are better positioned to deliver improved health outcomes for patients and consumers through innovation, pursue more targeted business strategies and accelerate growth.

Following the planned separation, the new Johnson & Johnson would remain the world’s largest and most diverse healthcare company and continue its commitment to lead in global healthcare R&D and innovation, with a portfolio that blends its strong Pharmaceutical and Medical Device capabilities focused on advancing the standard of care through innovation and technology. As previously announced, Mr. Alex Gorsky will serve as Executive Chairman of Johnson & Johnson and transition the Chief Executive Officer role to Mr. Joaquin Duato, currently Vice Chairman of the Company’s Executive Committee, effective January 3, 2022. Mr. Duato would continue to lead the new Johnson & Johnson following completion of the planned separation.

The New Consumer Health Company would be a leading global consumer health company, touching the lives of over one billion consumers around the world every day through iconic brands such as Neutrogena, AVEENO, Tylenol, Listerine, JOHNSON’s, and BAND-AID and continuing its legacy of innovation. The New Consumer Health Company’s Board of Directors and executive leadership would be determined and announced in due course as the planned separation process progresses.

Mr. Gorsky said, “Throughout our storied history, Johnson & Johnson has demonstrated that we can deliver results that benefit all our stakeholders, and we must continually be evolving our business to provide value today, tomorrow and in the decades ahead. Following a comprehensive review, the Board and management team believe that the planned separation of the Consumer Health business is the best way to accelerate our efforts to serve patients, consumers, and healthcare professionals, create opportunities for our talented global team, drive profitable growth, and – most importantly – improve healthcare outcomes for people around the world.”

Mr. Gorsky continued, “For the new Johnson & Johnson, this planned separation underscores our focus on delivering industry-leading biopharmaceutical and medical device innovation and technology with the goal of bringing new solutions to market for patients and healthcare systems, while creating sustainable value for shareholders. We believe that the New Consumer Health Company would be a global leader across attractive and growing consumer health categories, and a streamlined and targeted corporate structure would provide it with the agility and flexibility to grow its iconic portfolio of brands and innovate new products. We are committed to the success of each organization, as well as our company’s more than 136,000 employees around the globe, who will remain the backbone of these businesses.”

Mr. Duato commented, “This planned transaction would create two businesses that are each financially strong and leaders in their respective industries. We believe that the new Johnson & Johnson and the New Consumer Health Company would each be able to more effectively allocate resources to deliver for patients and consumers, drive growth and unlock significant value. Importantly, the new Johnson & Johnson and the New Consumer Health Company would remain mission driven companies with exceptional brands, commitments to innovation, and remarkable talent. Each company would carry on the Johnson & Johnson legacy of putting the needs and well-being of the people we serve first.”

The planned separation is expected to create value for all stakeholders by aiming to achieve the following key goals:

• Increase management focus, resources, agility and speed to effectively address differing industry trends and to better meet the needs of the new Johnson & Johnson and the New Consumer Health Company patients and consumers;
• Further focus capital allocation based on the objectives of each independent company;
• Provide each company with a compelling financial profile that more accurately reflects the strengths and opportunities of each business and, as a result, offers investors a more targeted investment opportunity; and
• Align corporate and operational structures so each company is better able to drive growth and value creation.