The Body Shop International is in talks to be sold to a consortium backed by a British beauty tycoon, but right now the potential deal doesn’t include Canadian assets.
The consortium is being helmed by Aurea, an investment firm in the cosmetics space led by Mike Jatania, who previously ran the business behind Lypsyl, Woods of Windsor, Yardley and Harmony hair care.
Aurea and the joint administrators overseeing The Body Shop International’s sales process say the deal is in its due diligence stages and could be completed in the coming weeks.
Tim Wood, a spokesperson for the joint administrators, says in an email that the deal only encompasses the cosmetics brand’s U.K. business and does not include its Canadian assets.
Earlier this month, The Body Shop Canada got court permission to move forward with a sale of its business. Lawyers cautioned that any deal they reach would be dependent on The Body Shop International not including the Canadian arm in its own sale.
The Body Shop Canada sought creditor protection earlier this year because its parent company, a European private equity firm, stripped it of cash and pushed it into debt, forcing it to close some stores. The Body Shop International sought similar protections and shuttered some stores around the same time.
The Body Shop Canada did not respond to a request for comment on the international arm’s potential deal, but a lawyer for the Canadian firm says the company is still working to “understand the implications.”
“We don’t have an update yet but hope to have one soon,” Natasha MacParland wrote in an email.