The Body Shop will soon have a new owner.
After a months-long bidding war, a consortium led by Auréa Group entrepreneur Mike Jatania entered into an agreement with the joint administrators of The Body Shop International to rescue the struggling beauty retailer.
The deal is not yet complete – a period of due diligence is currently underway – but the intention is to wrap up the transaction in coming weeks.
Jatania, who runs the investment business with Paul Raphael, an ex-UBS Group exec, and former Pharmapacks CEO Andrew Vagenas, has strong beauty industry experience.
He served as CEO of Lornamead, the one-time owner of beauty brands Woods of Windsor and Yardley, from 1990 until the company’s sale in 2013.
Leading the consortium’s management team, meanwhile, will be former Molton Brown and Erno Laszlo CEO Charles Denton.
The Auréa Group consortium fended off auction competition from Gordon Brothers, the private equity firm behind Laura Ashley, as well as Modella Capital (part of private equity house R Capital) and Alteri Investors, the owner of Bensons for Beds.
So what will this third owner in under a year mean for the future of The Body Shop and, crucially, what can Jatania’s supergroup do to succeed where others have failed?
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