(Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson said on Monday it was seeking a valuation of up to $42.95 billion in the initial public offering of its consumer health unit, Kenvue, at a time when investor appetite for new listings has been muted.
J&J is offering 151.2 million shares of common stock of Kenvue priced between $20 and $23 per share, aiming to raise up to $3.5 billion, based on the top end of the proposed range of the listing.
The announcement sets the stage for what is expected to be one of the marquee listings this year and brings the healthcare conglomerate closer to completing its planned spinoff of the business behind Band-Aid bandages and Tylenol medicines.
However, the listing plans come at a challenging time for the IPO market in the United States. New listings have come to a virtual standstill as investors grapple with heightened volatility in a rising interest rate environment.
Kenvue expects to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “KVUE” at the close of the proposed offering.
Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan are among the underwriters of the listing.
(Reporting by Akash Sriram, Manya Saini and Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)