HMV owner considers rescue bid for The Body Shop

A closed outlet of The Body Shop on Bond Street in central London, UK.Photographer: Betty Laura Zapata/Bloomberg

London: Doug Putman, the Canadian businessman who bought HMV out of administration, is exploring a rescue bid for The Body Shop, the Telegraph reports.

Putman has contacted The Body Shop’s administrators, FRP Advisory, to express an interest but has yet to make a formal bid, the newspaper said last Saturday.

It comes as the cosmetics retailer prepares to close almost half of its 198 British stores, including its flagship on London’s Oxford Street, resulting in almost 500 workers being made redundant after its British operations fell into insolvency last month.

Meanwhile, The Body Shop is also under investigation for allegedly taking millions of pounds from the company ahead of its insolvency.

Any purchase by Putman could face competition from private equity firm Aurelius Capital Management.

The private equity firm placed The Body Shop in administration just weeks after buying it from Brazilian conglomerate Natura & Co in a deal that valued the retailer at £207mil.

Putman, who also owns Sunrise Records and Toys R’ Us in Canada, bought HMV in 2019 for £883,000. Under his turnaround, the music retailer has returned to profit and last year reopened its site on Oxford Street. — Bloomberg