The purchase was made for all of the assets in US-listed entity Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB)'s personal protective equipment (PPE) business – a deal Ansell initially announced on 8 April 2024.

Despite the completion of this major acquisition, Ansell shares remain steady at $25.90 per share at the time of writing, flat with the previous close of $25.91 apiece. Here's a closer look.

Ansell shares on radar after transaction

Kimberly-Clark is a US consumer goods giant, holding over 175 brands under its banner. Many are household names – Kleenex tissues and Huggies diapers are two examples.

It has a market capitalisation of US$47.8 billion at the time of writing.

The rationale behind the deal was to expand Ansell's product portfolio and market position. The $970 million transaction will see it acquire brands like Kimtech and KleenGuard – both used for anti-contamination against bacteria and viruses.

It also includes several manufacturing assets used in the production of gloves, masks, apparel, and eyewear.

Financial implications

The deal was finalised today after Ansell secured long-term debt financing to settle the balance.

It raised US$377 million via the United States Private Placement (USPP) market. The other portion of the deal was funded through a fully underwritten institutional placement of approximately 17.8 million new Ansell shares on 8 April, where it raised $400 million at $22.45 per share.

Since that date, these investors have made a 15% return on their money as I write.

The new debt facility announced today will replace previous instruments Ansell was using to fund its growth. As such, management noted this should provide Ansell with financial stability going into FY 2025:

The USPP proceeds replace the previously announced fully committed bridge facility which will no longer need to be drawn, with maturities on the notes issued ranging from 5 to 12 years and providing Ansell with long term funding certainty going into FY25.

Outlook for Ansell shares

Despite the size and potential impact of the acquisition, Ansell shares have not seen immediate movement in early trade on Tuesday.

Investors might be taking a wait-and-see approach, considering the complexities and integration efforts associated with such a significant purchase.

But analysts appear to be optimistic about the deal's long-term benefits. According to CommSec, Anshell shares are rated as a moderate buy, with 6 buy and 6 hold recommendations, respectively.

Ansell's management also expects the acquisition to be beneficial. It expects revenues and earnings per share (EPS) to grow directly as a result of the move. We will just have to wait and see if this is positive for Ansell shares or not.

The company's full-year results for FY 2024 are set to be released on 20 August, per the announcement.

In the last 12 months, Ansell shares have slipped over 4.5% into the red. This year to date, the stock has lifted into the green following a 6% return in the past month of trade.

The post Why are Ansell shares on investors' radars today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Four ASX shares that are rising more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are pushing higher:

Ansell Ltd (ASX: ANN)

The Ansell share price is up 7% to $25.53. Investors have been buying this health and safety products company's shares following the completion of a capital raising. Ansell has successfully completed a A$400 million (US$263 million) fully underwritten institutional placement to eligible institutional investors. This was undertaken at a 6% discount of A$22.45 per new share. The proceeds will be used to acquire the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) business of Kimberly-Clark Corp (NYSE: KMB) for US$640 million (A$970 million). Management expects the acquisition to be mid-to-high single-digit earnings per share accretive pre synergies and low-teens earnings per share accretive including run-rate net cost synergies on a FY 2024 pro forma basis.

Elders Ltd (ASX: ELD)

The Elders share price is up 7% to $7.94. This agribusiness company's shares are rebounding on Tuesday after being sold off yesterday due to a poor trading update. The team at Citi believes the weakness has created a buying opportunity. This morning, its analysts upgraded Elders' shares to a buy rating with an $8.50 price target. Elsewhere, Morgans has upgraded the company's shares to an add rating with a $9.00 price target. This implies potential upside of 13% for investors from current levels.

Predictive Discovery Ltd (ASX: PDI)

The Predictive Discovery share price is up over 6% to 24.5 cents. This has been driven by the release of further regional drilling results from the company's Bankan Gold Project in Guinea. According to the release, the drilling delivered excellent initial results along strike to the north-east at Sanifolon South. This includes some of the best intercepts so far from Argo, which add to the potential of the Argo Central Trend. Predictive Discovery's Managing Director, Andrew Pardey, said: "We are delighted with the latest exploration results from Argo, which pleasingly includes both follow-up drill holes at promising targets and first-pass results from new areas."

Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO)

The Rio Tinto share price is up 3.5% to $126.11. This appears to have been driven largely by a strong night of trade for iron ore. According to CommSec, iron ore futures climbed US$2.71 or 2.7% to US$102.68 a tonne. This was driven by hopes of potential measures to bolster the steel industry in China and expectations of a wave of post-holiday restocking from the country's steelmakers.

The post Why Ansell, Elders, Predictive Discovery, and Rio Tinto shares are storming higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Ansell shares closed at $23.89 each last Friday. And that's where they'll be staying, at least for a while. This morning, the ASX 200 glove and bodywear manufacturer announced that its shares would be placed in a trading halt.

The purpose of this halt was to allow Ansell to reveal a new acquisition, and accompanying capital raise to fund it.

ASX 200 stock announces major acquisition and capital raise

Yes, Ansell has revealed that it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire 100% of the assets of Kimberly-Clark's Personal Protective Equipment (KCPPE) business.

Kimberly-Clark is the US-based consumer staples giant behind popular products like Kleenex and Huggies.

Ansell will reportedly acquire this company's PPE business for US$640 million ($974.6 million) in cash. This business includes brands like Kimtech and KleenGuard. As well as glove, mask, apparel and eyewear manufacturing facilities.    

This acquisition will be funded by a $400 million institutional share placement. That's in addition to a $65 million share placement plan for retail investors.

Assuming all goes to plan with this acquisition, Ansell estimates that the merger will be completed by the first quarter of the 2025 financial year.

The company is expecting significant synergies to result from this merger. Ansell is estimating net cost synergies of approximately US$10 million per annum by the third year. That's in addition to an expectation that it will provide a significant boost to the company's earnings per share (EPS) and earnings margins.

According to Ansell, it will also see the company's annual revenues double from roughly US$140 million to around US$300 million.

Ansell also told investors that its earnings guidance of 94-110 US cents in EPS for the 2024 financial year remains unchanged, "excluding the impact of the Acquisition and Transaction Funding". Ansell is anticipating that the acquisition will see its EPS over the 2024 financial year reduced by 1-2 US cents though.

Here's some of what Ansell CEO Neil Salmon had to say on this news today:

For many years, we have assessed a combination with KCPPE as one of our most attractive acquisition opportunities and I'm delighted that we have now reached agreement with K-C that the optimal path forward for this business is under Ansell ownership…

Our existing footprint, in addition to our global organisation and supply chain, creates the opportunity to generate significant synergy value from the acquisition while also enhancing our combined organic growth potential and we are excited about the benefits this will create for Ansell's customers and shareholders.

Ansell share price snapshot

Ansell shares may be suspended today, but investors have not enjoyed a lucrative 2024 so far this year. Year to date, the Ansell share price remains down by 5.42%. Those losses stretch to 13.32% over the past 12 months.

The company also remains down around 44% from its 2021 highs of over $42 a share:

At the last Ansell stock price of $23.89, this ASX 200 stock had a market capitalisation of $2.98 billion, with a dividend yield of 1.92%.

The post Ansell share price hits pause as company gloves up for $975 million acquisition appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.