Kimberly-Clark to Acquire Glove Maker

Kimberly-Clark Corp., in a deal that would further expand its health-care products business, agreed to buy San Diego-based Safeskin Corp., the biggest U.S. maker of disposable latex examination gloves, in a stock-swap deal valued at about $695 million. Kimberly-Clark, whose best-known products include Kleenex tissues and Scott towels, will pay 0.1956 a share, or $13.31, for each Safeskin share, and assume $155 million in debt. Safeskin employs about 7,000 and had sales of $232 million in 1998. The purchase would be Dallas-based Kimberly-Clark’s third in the health-care field in two years. Kimberly also said it promoted Thomas Falk to president and chief operating officer; Falk was president of the global tissue and paper division. The Safeskin acquisition was announced after the close of NYSE trading. Kimberly-Clark rose $1.19 to close at $68.25 on the NYSE; Safeskin rose 56 cents to close at $10.81 on Nasdaq.