On Tuesday 27th June, L’Oréal sold Littlehampton-based natural cosmetics company, The Body Shop to Natura Cosméticos in a bid to further international growth.
Brazilian company, Natura, was founded in 1969 and is one of the country’s most successful brands. Also focusing on using natural ingredients, sourcing many from the Amazon rainforest, the company wants to further its international growth, with the purchase of The Body Shop, whose headquarters are in Littlehampton.
After the announcement of its plans to acquire the brand earlier this month, Natura’s chief executive João Paulo Ferreira said: “The acquisition of The Body Shop is a decisive step in making Natura Group an international player in the cosmetics industry, following in the footsteps of our previous acquisition of Aesop in 2013.”
“In a sense, Natura and The Body Shop are like twins. We have been walking parallel paths in the past, and today, those paths are converging.
“We both share a same vision of cosmetics, advocating the use of natural ingredients, seeking to use our business as a platform to raise environmental consciousness,” he added.
This is thought to bring Natura’s global employee numbers to 17,000, with 3,200 stores and a turnover in the region of $3.5 billion.