A consortium led by the Auréa investment fund has entered into exclusive talks with administrators of stricken British high street beauty chain The Body Shop.
Administrators of The Body Shop International, FRP Advisory, said that, after a competitive bidding process, they have entered into an “exclusivity agreement with a consortium led by investment firm Auréa,” an investment company founded by British cosmetics tycoon Mike Jatania.
Focused on disruptive beauty brands, Auréa owns three companies – Herbivore Botanicals, a plant-based beauty range, Scandinavian Biolabs, a line of natural haircare products, and makeup range Dcypher – within its portfolio. Mike Jatania is also the former CEO of Lornamead, the one-time owner of beauty brands Lypsyl, Woods of Windsor, Yardley and Harmony haircare.
“While the deal is not yet complete, we believe the combined experience of the consortium, together with the existing management team, represents the best outcome for creditors and will ultimately ensure the long-term success of Body Shop,” added the administrators in a joint statement with Auréa.
Auréa has begun carrying out due diligence checks and the transaction is expected to be completed “in the coming weeks.”
Charles Denton, the former chief executive of beauty brand Molton Brown was named to lead the new management team when the deal is stuck.
Several closures
As part of a restructuring, FRP Advisory has so far closed 82 out of the 198 The Body Shop stores in the UK. The move was intended to enable the chain to regain long-term “financial stability” before a takeover of existing the assets. Before filing for bankruptcy, The Body Shop employed around 7,000 people worldwide, including 2,200 in the UK.
The company was sold to German investment firm Aurelius Group in November 2023 by Brazilian beauty giant Natura &Co for a fifth of the near 1 billion dollars it paid for to L’Oréal in 2017. Shortly after its takeover by Aurelius, The Body Shop went bankrupt and several of its subsidiaries in continental Europe, North America and parts of Asia were closed or have entered into administration.
