LONDON — Reckitt Benckiser, a British company that makes household products including condoms and Lysol, is acquiring U.S. baby formula maker Mead Johnson for a deal valued at $17.9 billion.

Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc has been plunged into crisis after a jury awarded an Illinois woman $60 million in damages, saying the company’s Enfamil infant formula led to the death of her ...