The Body Shop’s remaining stores have been rescued from administration after reporting in February that its UK 200 sites were at risk of closure.
The ethical beauty brand, which now has 113 high street branches across the country and employs around 1,300 people, has been saved by a consortium led by cosmetics mogul Mike Jatania.
His investment company Auréa Group acquired the retailer for an undisclosed amount and will now also have control of its assets in North America and Australia.
Jatania and Charles Denton, beauty business Molton Brown’s former chief executive, will lead the new management team.
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According to Auréa Group, it has “no immediate plans” to close stores but will monitor its performance as it considers the next steps.
Private equity company Aurelius bought the company for £207 million in 2023 but admitted it could not turn the business around and put the UK arm into administration, at the time owing more than £276 million to creditors.
Since the announcement earlier this year, insolvency firm FRP Advisory has closed 85 stores, axing nearly 500 in-stores positions and around 270 office jobs.
Paul Raphaël, founding partner of Auréa Group, said international law firm Memery Crystal had successfully advised on the acquisition.
“Thanks to the tireless efforts of the Memery Crystal team, we have successfully navigated a complex transaction – our largest to date – that has secured The Body Shop’s future. Their expertise and dedication were instrumental to this deal.”
Nick Alfillé, partner and head of corporate at Memery Crystal, added the firm was “very pleased to have played a role in saving The Body Shop, an iconic British high street institution and brand”.
Famed for selling fair trade, cruelty-free products, The Body Shop was founded by environmental campaigner Dame Anita Roddick in Brighton in the 1970s. It has undergone several changes in ownership since she sold the business in 2006.
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