SCA, maker of the TENA brand in Bowling Green, will become two listed companies – SCA and Essity – a news release said Wednesday.

Essity will become a separate global hygiene and health company and will include the TENA brand from Bowling Green in its portfolio. SCA has manufacturing operations in Bowling Green with 140 local employees.

SCA began in 1929 in Sweden as a forest products company. The company has expanded to include leading hygiene and health brands in incontinence care, consumer and away-from-home tissue and medical solutions.

As of 2016, 86 percent of the company was in hygiene and health areas, with 14 percent in forest products.

The forest products company will continue to be known as SCA and will include the forest products operations and all forest land owned by the SCA Group.

Essity will develop, produce, market and sell personal care and tissue products, including the recently acquired BSN medical brands. Essity stems from the words “essentials” and “necessities,” the news release said.

“Hygiene and health are necessities for better lives and our products and solutions play an essential role in improving well-being for everybody, everywhere,” Magnus Groth, president and chief executive officer of SCA and future president and CEO of Essity, said in the release.

A vote in favor of the SCA board’s proposal to split the company was made by shareholders at its annual general meeting Wednesday. The split will be carried out following completion of the listing process on the Nasdaq Stockholm no later than the second half of 2017, the release said.

– Follow business reporter Charles A. Mason on Twitter @BGDNbusiness or visit bgdailynews.com.