Aurelius goes natural with The Body Shop

Sustainability and ethical business practices are increasingly important to consumers, so it’s no wonder we are seeing deals such as Aurelius agreeing to acquire The Body Shop International, a global beauty brand and retailer.

Energy is a popular sector here on PE Hub Europe, but this time we have a deal involving a service provider to energy infrastructure assets, as Partners Group makes an acquisition within the segment.

Then to finish, I’ll highlight some of our recent listicle content.

Natural beauty

The ethical personal products market grew by 1.3 percent to £1.78 billion (€2.04 billion; $2.2 billion) in 2021 from £1.76 billion in 2020, according to the UK Ethical Markets Report 2022. In the report, Cathryn Higgs, head of environment, sustainability and policy at Co-op, stated that awareness of climate and environmental issues among consumers is “greater than it has ever been”.

We just saw an interesting deal in the segment, as Aurelius agreed to acquire The Body Shop International, a global beauty brand and retailer, from Natura & Co.

The purchase agreement values The Body Shop at £207 million, including an earn-out of £90 million, subject to certain conditions.

London-based The Body Shop’s product portfolio comprises natural ingredient-based bath and body, skin care, fragrance, hair care, make-up and gifting. It has operations in 89 markets with more than 900 company-owned stores in 20 countries.

“We are delighted to be undertaking this acquisition of an iconic British brand, which pioneered the cruelty-free and natural ingredient movement in the health and beauty market,” said Tristan Nagler, partner at Aurelius. The firm will work with the company’s management to “drive operational improvements and re-energise the business and help to deliver the next chapter of success”.

This is also a perfect opportunity for me to offer you some reading on private equity’s interest in franchises. My colleague over on PE Hub, Rafael Canton, recently wrote an interesting piece on the topic, which you can find here.

Energy inspection

Moving from personal care to energy. Partners Group has agreed to acquire ROSEN Group, a global inspection service provider for energy infrastructure assets, from its founder Hermann Rosen.

Stans, Switzerland-based ROSEN’s core service, involves sending high-tech, precision sensors through pipelines to detect corrosion or minor cracks and identifying risk areas where maintenance is required and recommended. It derives most of its revenues from natural gas.

Hermann Rosen will remain a significant partner alongside Partners Group.

Partners Group will work with management to leverage ROSEN’s existing capabilities to expand into future energy sources, including new energy transition opportunities such as hydrogen transportation pipes, as well as into adjacent markets, according to a release.

“The company has strong recurring revenues from a large, diverse, and regulated asset base,” said Charles Miller-Jones, managing director, Partners Group. “ROSEN is well-positioned to capitalise on the tailwinds in the sector and we have conviction in its growth prospects.”

The key value creation initiatives will include continued investment in technological innovation, R&D and capex, further adoption of automation and AI to drive data analysis, and the introduction of operational excellence initiatives, the release said.

A long list

Before signing off, I wanted to highlight some of our recent listicle-style stories, perfect for a busy midweek.

Here is one containing 11 PE-backed deals in the pharma services sector, written by my colleague Irien Joseph.

If you prefer tech, here is a story with 11 deals showing private equity’s interest in the cloud services market, featuring Keensight Capital, LDC and Agilitas Private Equity.

And, we have something for our sports fans too. Take a look at this piece with eight PE-backed deals within the sector of sport. Dynasty Equity, 777 Partners and CVC are among the PE firms buying and selling in the sports segment.