The Body Shop France was placed in receivership on Thursday April 4 by the Paris trade court, according to a report by BFM Business. The British cosmetics retailer, still struggling after being bought by German investment fund Aurelius at the end of 2023, filed for suspension of payments in France on March 19. The Body Shop employs 260 people in France, where it operates 59 directly owned stores and 7 franchised ones.

The Paris court has granted The Body Shop France a six-month monitoring period to implement a turnaround plan. A plan that could lead to a rationalisation of its retail network as is the case in the UK, the brand’s original market, where over 80 stores, out of about 200, are set to close down. Judicial liquidation, as happened in Belgium, is another possible scenario for The Body Shop France.

At the end of January, Aurelius indicated that, in order to turn the company around, it would exit from a dozen markets in Europe and Asia. The Body Shop then filed for bankruptcy in several countries, while its future on the French market remained unclear. Business in the retailer’s French stores has been slumping, and its e-shop was put on hold.

Deliveries to French stores have partially resumed, said BFM Business, underlining however that stocks have been replenished, or will be in the coming days, in fewer than 20 stores.

In December 2023, Brazilian cosmetics group Natura & Co. sold The Body Shop to Aurelius for GBP207 million (€237 million). An amount that was significantly lower than the Brazilian group’s initial demand which, according to information leaked to the press, was GBP500 million. As a reminder, in 2017 Natura & Co. bought The Body Shop from the L’Oréal group for GBP880 million.