The Administrators of The Body Shop are reported to have received expressions of interest from over 70 potential bidders. This sale process follows the failure of plans to propose a CVA.
FRP confirmed to the Retail Gazette it had “not been possible to reach the necessary agreements for a CVA to be launched. The joint Administrators have therefore decided to commence a sale process for the underlying business and assets of TBSI [The Body Shop International].”
The move suggests the high street chain, which now trades from around 100 stores following a recent round of 82 store closures and circa 800 redundancies, could be set for a brighter future..
It is understood that the potential bidders include, Next, which expressed an interest in a deal earlier in the insolvency process, and private equity firm Aurelius, which took control of The Body Shop only weeks before the chain entered Administration.
It is uncertain whether the bidders include M&S as a source confirmed last week they would not be submitting a bid for the beauty chain, but this week’s headlines suggest they are interested.
In other High Street Administration news, Ted Baker’s largest creditor (Secure Trust Bank) has failed in its attempt to replace Administrators from Teneo with IPs from FRP. The bank took the action as they believed there was a conflict of interest given Teneo and Authentic Brands (which owns Ted Baker) are both part owned by the same private equity firm.
The Court has dismissed the application. The proposals filed at Companies House estimate that preferential creditors will be paid in full, as will Secure Trust Bank. The second ranking charge holder (the holding company) will be part paid and the unsecured creditors are only likely to be paid from the prescribed part. On this last point, the proposals anticipate the Administrators may apply to court for permission to disapply the prescribed part provisions.
