British cosmetics magnate Mike Jatania nears rescue of The Body Shop
The Body Shop is saved by British tycoon Mike Jatania.
The fate of the beauty retailer has been up in the air since February, when the board ordered the loss of 759 jobs and the closure of 82 stores.
But now cosmetics millionaire Jatania is in talks about a deal through his investment company Aurea.
This has raised hopes that the remaining 116 stores and approximately 1,400 employees will be retained.
British cosmetics magnate Mike Jatania (pictured with his wife Sonal) wants to save the Body Shop chain that went bankrupt in February
According to a statement from Aurea and the administrators of FRP Advisory, a sale is expected in the coming weeks and Jatania has commenced due diligence checks.
There are plans to appoint former boss of shower gel brand Molton Brown, Charles Denton, as CEO.
The statement said: ‘While the deal has not yet been completed, we believe that the combined experience of the consortium, together with that of the current management, will provide the best outcome for the creditors and will ultimately ensure the long-term success of The Body Shop.’
According to the company, the proposed deal is based on a “competitive bidding process.”
Among those speculated to have taken up the gauntlet are Gordon Brothers, the private equity firm behind Laura Ashley. Marks & Spencer and Next are also said to have had a look but decided not to make a bid.
Jatania, 59, previously owned Lornamead, which owned several body care brands including Yardley, Lypsyl and Harmony Haircare.
His partners at Aurea include former UBS banker Paul Raphael and Pharmapacks founder Andrew Vagenas.
But Jatania and Denton face an uphill battle to get Body Shop back on track, which had 198 stores and 2,200 staff in the UK when it went into administration in February.
The demise came almost half a century after Anita Roddick founded the organisation in Brighton in 1976.
She and her husband Gordon sold the company to L’Oréal for £652 million in 2006. A year later, Roddick died of a brain haemorrhage at the age of 64.
Under L’Oréal, production moved to the Philippines and discounts boosted sales.
In 2017 it was bought by Natura & Co, the Brazilian owners of Avon, for £880m. Last November it was sold for a bargain £207m to German private equity firm Aurelius.
In February, executives warned the store base was “no longer viable” after “years of losses” and suggested as many as 100 stores could close.
It closed stores with the highest rents and other bills. These included Bristol, Nuneaton in Warwickshire and Ashford in Kent, and four in London.
From war-torn Uganda to the Bond den
By means of MARK SHAPLAND
Mike Jatania, also known as the ‘Cosmetics King’, is one of Britain’s richest businessmen and property investors.
Together with his three brothers – Vin, Danny and George – the Jatanias are worth £650million.
They first made their money when the family-owned Lornamead was acquired by Hong Kong rival Li & Fung for £250m in 2013.
Stack of land: Last year, Jatania put his 12-bedroom Denham Place mansion up for sale
The company was founded in 1978 and specialized in buying up underwhelming personal care brands like Yardley and Lipsil and reselling them. But it was Mike, pictured above, who, despite being the youngest, took it over and made it a success.
He joined the company in 1985 and became general manager in 1990. He once said: ‘The fact that I am the youngest and I am leading the group says a lot about my brothers and their judgment.’
Since then he has invested in a number of high profile property developments, including Regent’s Crescent in London.
Last year he put his 12-bedroom country house, Denham Place, up for sale in what is expected to be one of the biggest deals ever for a country house.
Previous residents of this 17th-century building in Buckinghamshire have included relatives of Napoleon Bonaparte and Wall Street banker John Pierpont Morgan.
It is also said to have served as inspiration for scenes in James Bond films.
Jatania, who now lives in Monaco, is a regular on London’s charity circuit with his attractive wife Sonal.
It’s a long way since his humble arrival in the UK in 1969, when their father moved the family to Britain from Uganda after Asians were expelled from the country by Idi Amin.
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