By Paul Ziobro Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Kimberly-Clark Corp.'s (KMB) chief executive ruled out any "transformational" mergers or acquisitions, pouring cold water on activist investor Carl Icahn's suggestion that the company should consider buying Clorox Co. (CLX) Icahn earlier this month made an offer to buy Clorox, but suggested that other consumer-product companies, including Kimberly-Clark, should consider making an offer due to attractive synergy opportunities. Monday, Kimberly-Clark Chief Executive Tom Falk said that the company's long-term plan doesn't include any major deals. "I don't think the announcements related to Clorox change that point of view," Falk said. He added that Clorox is a well-managed company and that "it's hard to see how we can do a better job of that." Clorox is fending off Ichan's bid for the company. After rejecting an earlier bid as too low, Clorox is evaluating Icahn's latest bid of $80 a share, which values the company at $10.7 billion. Falk made the comments after Kimberly-Clark earlier reported an 18% decrease in second-quarter profit, and warned that earnings for the year would come in at the bottom half of guidance unless costs abate. Kimberly-Clark shares were down less than 1% at $67.33 in recent trading, while Clorox shares were down about 1% at $73.06. -By Paul Ziobro, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2194; paul.ziobro@dowjones.com
