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A consortium led by Indian-British tycoon Mike Jatania is in the final stages of negotiations to acquire the British vegan beauty brand The Body Shop. Sources added that the new buyer plans to retain all of The Body Shop's stores in the UK.

The brand entered bankruptcy proceedings after being acquired by private equity firm Aurelius for £207 million in February this year. During this period, British consulting firm FRP Advisory was looking for potential buyers for The Body Shop. It was expected that a deal would be reached this summer, but news of the acquisition came in mid-July. During the bankruptcy proceedings, the brand has closed many of its stores, resulting in hundreds of job losses. Currently, the brand's Tmall flagship store is still operating normally.

It is reported that Mike Jatania has extensive experience in the beauty industry. He currently runs the Aurea Holding investment company with former UBS Group banker Paul Raphael and has recruited beauty industry veteran Charles Denton, who was the CEO of Molton Brown, a British high-end perfume brand under Kao Group.

Mike Jatania, whose beauty brands include Woods of Windsor, Yardley and Harmony haircare, sold his company Lornamead to Li & Fung in 2013 for nearly $200 million.

Aurea Group says its goal is to "help founders in the beauty and personal care industry transform their visions into success stories on a global scale". To this end, the group is "building a new era of beauty and personal care companies through carefully selected acquisitions and active management, while ensuring we retain the soul and vision of the founders in a spirit of partnership".

People familiar with the matter said that Aurea beat other competitors in the auction and is currently in exclusive negotiations, but the Aurea Group declined to comment. It is reported that Aurea plans to retain all of The Body Shop's stores in the UK. After selling and restructuring its international business and closing several UK stores, the brand now has about 100 stores in the UK.

According to a previous report by Nandu, The Body Shop is a 48-year-old global large-scale chain of British skin care and beauty brands. It was founded by Anita Roddick in the UK in 1976 and is dedicated to providing skin care products with natural ingredients. As one of the world's well-known beauty brands, The Body Shop was once very popular. The reason for its popularity lies in its "vegan beauty" positioning. Tea tree essential oil, body butter, ginger shampoo, and rose shower gel have been the brand's main products since the 1970s and 1980s.

The Body Shop was acquired by L'Oréal for £652 million in 2006 and was sold to Brazilian beauty company Natura & Co. in 2017. European private equity fund Aurelius agreed to acquire The Body Shop's international business from Natura & Co. for £207 million last year, but the brand fell into bankruptcy management in February this year, just three months later. Just one month before the bankruptcy, the brand announced that its entire product formula portfolio had been certified by the Vegan Association, becoming the first beauty brand with a full range of products using 100% vegan formulas.Previous report: The Body Shop will be auctioned, and another pure beauty brand is also going to close?

Written by: Nandu reporter Wang Xin