Memery Crystal Advises on Successful Rescue of The Body Shop from Administration

Founded by Dame Anita Roddick in 1976, The Body Shop is an iconic brand renowned globally for its beauty products, perfumes and ethical stance against animal testing.

Auréa Group is a specialist investment firm, co-founded by Mike Jatania and Paul Raphaël, combining investment acumen, deep industry experience and operational expertise to back purposeful businesses focused on New Age Beauty, Wellness and Longevity while preserving the brands’ soul, purpose and values.

The business will now be led by British cosmetics entrepreneur Mike Jatania as the Executive Chairman, alongside new Chief Executive Charles Denton, the former CEO of Molton Brown.

Corporate Partners Nick Alfillé, Jeff Roberts and Chris Allen led a wide Memery Crystal deal team bringing together their expertise in Corporate, Insolvency, Banking, CIPT, Property, Employment and Tax to deliver the result.  Memery Crystal worked alongside the client’s other adviser, RSM UK, led by Restructuring Partner Tom Straw.

Nick Alfillé, Partner and Head of Corporate at Memery Crystal said: “We are delighted to have worked on this deal alongside our long-standing client, Mike Jatania, his co-founder Paul Raphaël and their excellent team at Aurea Group and are very pleased to have played a role in saving The Body Shop, an iconic British high street institution and brand.

Memery Crystal is well-equipped to advise on these types of transactions – we have the experience, the multi-disciplinary skills and the nous required to navigate complex deals involving high-profile brands, personalities and businesses.”

Paul Raphaël, Founding Partner of Auréa Group said: “Thanks to the tireless efforts of the Memery Crystal team, we have successfully navigated a complex transaction – our largest to-date – that has secured The Body Shop’s future.  Their expertise and dedication were instrumental to this deal.  Nick, Jeff and Chris led from the front, and the Memery Crystal team worked in sync with the wider deal team.”

Thank you to all of the Memery Crystal team members who worked to make this transaction a success.

Corporate

Nick Alfillé, Partner and Head of Corporate, Chris Allen, Partner, Mel Belford, Legal Director, Taibo Wang, Associate, James Bateman, Solicitor, Menelaos Yiannakas, Solicitor and Gabriela Parra, Paralegal.

Insolvency & Restructuring

Jeff Roberts, Partner and Head of Insolvency & Restructuring.

Banking

Matthew Lindsay, Partner and Joint Head of Banking & Finance, Rumit Nanji, Partner and Joint Head of Banking & Finance, David Sachs, Partner, James Woodcock, Associate, Anukrit Bhargava, Associate, Krittika Chavaly, Solicitor and Alex Michael, Solicitor.

Property

Nicky Kravitz, Partner and Head of Real Estate and Matt Hind, Partner.

CIPT

Chris Pulham, Partner, Liam Hill, Associate, Philip Brooks, Solicitor and Oscar Kent-Egan, Solicitor.

Employment

Bob Cordran, Partner and Head of Employment, Jaden Cramer, Associate and Emma Booth, Solicitor.

Tax

Leigh Sayliss, Partner and Head of Tax.