Jan 4 (Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ.N) shopper well being unit Kenvue on Wednesday filed to be listed as an unbiased firm, bringing the healthcare conglomerate a step nearer to finishing the largest shakeup in its 135-year historical past.

The enterprise behind Band-Aid bandages and Tylenol medicines generated internet gross sales of $15.1 billion in 2021, up from $14.5 billion in 2020, in keeping with its submitting with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The submitting, for Kenvue to record on the New York Stock Exchange beneath the ticker image “KVUE”, comes greater than a 12 months after Johnson & Johnson introduced its plan to interrupt up into two firms.

J&J’s pharmaceutical and medical gear items, which make most cancers therapies and surgical instruments, had recorded practically $80 billion in gross sales in 2021, far forward of its shopper merchandise revenues.

The shopper unit has additionally confronted practically 40,000 lawsuits alleging that its child powder and different talc merchandise contained asbestos later linked to mesothelioma and ovarian most cancers in ladies who used it for private hygiene. J&J has denied the claims.

J&J’s resolution to separate up mirrored how large, diversified companies have been beneath strain to simplify their buildings to extend focus, particularly in healthcare. Rival GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) additionally lately accomplished the spin off of its shopper well being business.

General Electric’s (GE.N) spun-off healthcare unit, GE HealthCare Technologies , debuted as an unbiased firm on Nasdaq on Wednesday.

Kenvue mentioned J&J will proceed to personal not less than 80.1% of the voting energy of the corporate’s shares upon completion of the providing. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and J.P. Morgan are the underwriters for the providing.

Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Devika Syamnath

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