Class of 2020 | taizhang@wharton.upenn.edu
Buyout shops across Europe and the United States have their eyes set on a possible acquisition of The Body Shop, a business that L’Oreal (OREP.PA) originally acquired in 2006 but a business that L’Oreal now hopes to unload in the wake of years of weakening sales and severe margin compression. Originally a pioneer in the field of ethically sourced cosmetics, increasing competition as well as a shift in consumer sentiment towards natural and oil-based cosmetics has meant that The Body Shop have found itself with a decreasing topline and slowing consumer demand. These factors, as well as margin cannibalization within L’Oreal’s numerous product lines, have turned The Body Shop from a former industry leader into an undesirable business that L’Oreal is eager to take private.
Earlier in March, L’Oreal sent out information packages to many bidders, hoping to attract the highest valuation possible. According to internal reports, L’Oreal is hoping for a valuation upwards of $1 billion euros. However, internal sources to major bidders such as Bain Capital, BC Partners, CVC and Advent report that very few investors value the business any higher than $700 million pounds, and many have readjusted estimates downwards after L’Oreal reported an earnings miss for The Body Shop in Q4 2016. Non-GAAP operating profits fell from $54.8 million euros to $33.8 million euros while GAAP revenues dropped to $920.8 million euros in 2016 from $967.2 million in 2015. A drastic decline in revenues and increasingly constrained cash flow have caused multiple buyout firms to discount The Body Shop at increasingly high rates. This made it difficult for buyout firms to meet L’Oreal’s price expectations for the terms of acquisitions. Even bigger private equity shops, like giants KKR and PAI Partners, have also expressed interest in buying out The Body Shop, but at even more discounted prices.
A possible alternative avenue for L’Oreal to unload The Body Shop comes in the form of Chinese investors who have signaled interest in purchasing at a high valuation. This is because of the unique structure of the Chinese cosmetics markets, which is still primarily saturated by synthetic and unethical products. The Body Shop represents a golden opportunity for Chinese private equity shops to bring a tested, western brand that has the best odds of penetrating the Chinese markets with environmentally-conscious cosmetics. Compared to developing a brand within the Chinese market and going through the costly process of educating the Chinese consumer about buying socially responsible cosmetics, the opportunity to leverage The Body Shop’s existing high bottom-line margins and brand power in China is an attractive one. When The Body Shop was founded in 1976 with a strong stance against animal testing that quickly differentiated itself from the largely impartial synthetic cosmetics market. Thus, American investors are concerned about a possible deal between Chinese investors and The Body Shop. Due to China’s storied history with animal abuse and animal testing, such a deal would be a blatant violation and turnaround of The Body Shop’s founding principles, and a deal with China could potentially mean giving up American business to penetrate the Chinese market.
The turnaround work needed to revamp The Body Shop’s brand recognition over its competitors within the saturated domestic market is a huge obstacle to any potential buyout deal from any private equity shop. Therefore, it is ideal for L’Oreal to consider alternate avenues for a deal, such as with Chinese shops eager to penetrate a quickly emerging market with highly profitable Western products with huge mark-ups. L’Oreal’s decision, as well as whatever price target they set, is ultimately vital to the survival of a former pioneer in the cosmetics industry that has long lost its luster in an increasingly crowded and valuable space.