Natura continues to receive bids for The Body Shop. In this case, the owner of Waterstones joins the bidding for the UK-based cosmetics firm, as announced by Sky News.
Elliott Advisors, an American investment fund, has submitted a formal offer for The Body Shop. Natura confirmed its possible intention to sell the chain just a month ago in an attempt to mitigate the results presented during the last few years.
Sky News has acknowledged that the U.S.-based investment fund is the owner of Waterstones, a leading bookstore chain in the U.K., and that its owner has in recent weeks submitted its proposal to buy The Body Shop, which has stores in key British cities.
Natura prices The Body Shop
As it has explained Retail Week, now, after receiving more offers from interested parties for The Body Shop's retail business, Natura & Co has valued The Body Shop at up to 500 million with the help of financial institution Morgan Stanley.
Although this new buyer has been known, The Body Shop has among its options different investment funds such as CVC Capital Partners, Blackstone and Apollo Global Management.
As indicated by the media outlet the business has been devalued, as the figure is lower than what Natura paid in 2017 to acquire the British cosmetics and body care retailer.
Natura has seen how its international expansion plans have been slowly truncated and as a result it has had to divest itself of the acquisitions it has made. The first to fall was Aesop, which was sold to L'Oréal in April.
The Body Shop has seen its turnover in the second quarter fall by 12% and its revenues drop by 15%. The English retailer has become Natura's main liability, as it is the company that contributes the least revenue to the Brazilian group's total turnover.