Who Purchased The Physique Store? Rescue Deal Defined 

113 Physique Store shops, and round 1,300 jobs, have been rescued after the vegan magnificence model fell into administration again in February.

The Physique Store was then put up for public sale 4 months in the past. Over the weekend, Sky Information reported {that a} consortium led by the investments group Auréa had purchased the model out of administration for an undisclosed sum.

The Physique Store, which was first based in 1976 by the late Dame Anita Roddick and her husband Gordon, has modified arms varied occasions over time.

This most up-to-date acquisition signifies that the moral magnificence model will have the ability to hold buying and selling. So who’s Auréa, and why has the group bought the Physique Store?

Who has acquired the Physique Store?

Auréa is a specialist group that was co-founded by ‘Cosmetics King’ Mike Jatania in 2012, alongside companions Andrew Vagenas and Paul Raphael.

The capital progress agency calls itself an funding platform “centered on magnificence, wellness and longevity”. It additionally owns plant-based cosmetics agency Herbivore Botanicals, hair care firm Scandinavian Biolabs, and make-up model Decypher.

Proprietor Jatania is among the UK’s richest businessmen. Alongside his three brothers – Vin, Danny and George, the Jatanias have an estimated internet value of £650m.

Jatania, the youngest of the brothers, grew to become CEO of the household’s private care model Lornamead in 1990. The enterprise was bought for a tidy $190m in 2013.

An organization press launch says the Physique Store deal represents the most important transaction thus far for Auréa. As a part of the acquisition, which was finalised late on Friday, Auréa Group may also achieve management of the Physique Store’s belongings in Australia and North America.

Alongside Vagenas and Raphael, Jatania will run the administration group with Charles Denton, former CEO of Molton Brown. Denton has expertise in bringing manufacturers again from the brink. He beforehand took Molton Brown from near-collapse to a £170m enterprise.

Consumers of the Physique Store

Auréa Group’s acquisition of the Physique Store model marks the fourth event the corporate has modified arms in lower than 20 years. Right here’s a quick overview of the Physique Store’s varied homeowners over time:

The corporate’s chequered previous started in 2006, when the Physique Store agreed to a £652m takeover by the worldwide cosmetics producer, L’Oréal.

On the time, the changeover proved controversial. The Physique Store’s moral mission assertion was seen to battle with L’Oréal’s alleged historical past of animal testing.

The L’Oréal takeover had an influence on the Physique Store gross sales. After income nosedived in 2016, the Physique Store was bought for £877m to the Brazilian cosmetics big Natura & Co.

Natura’s acquisition was seen as a repair for the Physique Store’s status. In 2014, Natura grew to become the primary publicly-listed B-corp. Jean-Paul Agon, L’Oréal CEO on the time, mentioned Natura was “the most effective new proprietor [to] nurture the model DNA round naturality and ethics”.

• Aurelius Group: 2023-2024

However in late 2023, Natura started to dump a few of its belongings. It bought the Physique Store in a discount deal to personal fairness agency Aurelius for £207m.

Aurelius apparently discovered that the enterprise was in worse monetary form than it thought. In February 2024, it positioned the agency into administration lower than three months after taking management from Natura, placing 2,200 jobs in danger. On the time, it owed £276m to collectors.

Auréa Group will now be hoping it might probably assist to stabilise the corporate and guarantee continuity after the previous few years of disruptive changeovers and management shake-ups.

What’s subsequent for The Physique Store?

In line with stories, Auréa has lined up £30m in working capital from restructuring agency Hilco to fund the Physique Store’s future. This money injection is sorely wanted.

As we beforehand highlighted, the Physique Store is in severe hazard of falling off a cliff edge. A few of its points are usually not distinctive. The retail sector is underneath stress for the time being attributable to declining buyer footfall and tightened spending.

Nonetheless, the Physique Store has struggled to remain related in an more and more tight market. Like different legacy manufacturers, akin to Avon, it has didn’t sustain with Gen Z shopping for tendencies, who’ve tended in the direction of online-only opponents.

Now that the Physique Store has been dug up, its subsequent job is to reassemble itself into a lovely, thrilling area for cosmetics customers – with out costing an arm and a leg.