The Body Shop International is in talks to be sold to a consortium backed by a British fashion mogul, but so far the potential deal does not include Canadian assets.
The consortium is led by Auréa, a cosmetics investment firm headed by Mike Jatania, who previously headed the company behind hair care brands Lypsyl, Woods of Windsor, Yardley and Harmony.
Auréa and the joint administrators overseeing the sale of The Body Shop International say the deal is at the due diligence stage and could be completed in the coming weeks.
Tim Wood, a spokesman for the joint administrators, said in an email that the deal only covered the cosmetics brand’s UK operations and did not include its Canadian assets.
Earlier this month, The Body Shop Canada won court approval to proceed with the sale of its business. Lawyers have warned that any deal they reach would depend on The Body Shop International not including the Canadian arm in its own sale.
The Body Shop Canada filed for 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 filed for similar protections and closed some stores around the same time.
The Body Shop Canada did not respond to a request for comment on the potential international deal, but a lawyer for the Canadian company said the company is still working to “understand the implications.”
“We don’t have an update yet, but we hope to have one soon,” Natasha MacParland wrote in an email.