Next is considering a rescue bid to acquire parts of The Body Shop after the retailer’s UK operation was placed into administration earlier this month.
The retail group is understood to have contacted administrators at FRP Advisory to express an interest in acquiring assets as part of any sale process it decides to launch, Sky News reported.
The Body Shop owner Aurelius filed for administration of the retailer’s UK operations last week in a move to restructure the business.
Next is said to have been monitoring the ethical beauty retailer for a while, and people close to the group confirmed it had expressed an interest in assembling a deal.
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However, one obstacle to a possible deal of The Body Shop is that its brand and intellectual property (IP) assets are not part of the administration process.
It is understood that Aurelius is financing the rest of the business, and as part of that has secured major assets including stock and IP.
FRP is expected to decide whether to launch an auction in the coming weeks, with a sale of the restructured business in its new form back to Aurelius looking a likely outcome.
This week, administrators said it will retain “more than half” of the The Body Shop’s 198 UK stores and axe around 40% of head office roles as part of a mass restructuring of the business.
FRP said the reduced store footprint would coincide with “a renewed focus on the brand’s products, online sales channels and wholesale strategies, bringing the brand in line with industry peers and supporting a return to financial stability”.
Hundreds of staff impacted by the store closures and head office redundancies have been advised to claim for “wrongful dismissal” through Acas, the government’s advisory, conciliation and arbitration service.
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