Body Shop owner L’Oreal has denied that it has any intention to sell the ethical cosmetics retailer.

Following sale speculation, a L’Oreal spokeswoman said: “There is absolutely no truth in the rumour that L’Oreal intends to sell The Body Shop. In an interview with The Financial Times on 27 September 2012, Jean-Paul Agon, chairman and CEO L’Oreal, explicitly denied any intention to sell and added that “The Body Shop is a kind of treasure that we are very happy to have”.”

According to the Mail, a former suitor of The Body Shop said it was being groomed for a sale.

Founder of rival retailer Lush Mark Constantine, who tried to buy The Body Shop in 2001, told the newspaper a source had told him that Body Shop no longer fitted L’Oreal’s strategy.

L’Oreal bought The Body Shop for £652.3m in 2006.

  • An earlier Retail Week story this morning on The Body Shop incorrectly stated that the retailer could be sold for £350m and wrongly linked Adrian Bellamy and Texas Pacific to a potential deal.

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