ALPHARETTA, GEORGIA—  Neenah Paper and Schweitzer-Mauduit have agreed to merge, bringing together two manufacturers of specialty materials whose combined revenues are expected to be around $3 billion. Both companies are former spinoffs from Kimberly-Clark Corp., the Kleenex, Cottonelle, Scott and Huggies paper-based products. SWM was spun off in the mid-’90s and Neenah became independent in 2004. Neenah makes specialty paper, coatings and other materials for digital, packaging and other applications. It had 2,493 full-time employees as of Dec. 31, 2021. SWM makes films, tapes, foams, nets, nonwovens and papers for a variety of industries. It had 5,100 full-timers as of Dec. 31, 2021. Julie Schertell, CEO of Neenah, will serve in the same role for combined company. Dr. Jeff Kramer, CEO of SWM, will serve as a strategic advisor. A new name for the merged entity will be announced at a later date. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2022, subject to shareholder and regularly approvals.