EU clears L’Oreal’s Body Shop buy

BRUSSELS/PARIS: EU competition authorities have cleared the purchase of British beauty products chain Body Shop International by France’s L’Oreal, the European Commission said in a statement on Thursday.

“The Commission concluded that the transaction would not result in higher prices for cosmetics to the detriment of European consumers or otherwise significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it,” it said.

L’Oreal, the world’s top cosmetics group, unveiled an agreed deal in March to buy Body Shop for £652m ($1.23bn), or 300 pence per share. Its main brands include L’Oreal, Lancome, Biotherm, Helena Rubinstein, Kerastase and Maybelline.

Separately, L’Oreal said in a statement that it had acquired shares or received valid acceptances of its offer representing about 95% of Body Shop’s issued share capital, meaning its offer had become unconditional as to acceptances.

Body Shop, whose 2,000 outlets selling such items as passion fruit body butter and bilberry hair detangler started as a single shop in Brighton in 1976, is 18% owned by its founder Anita Roddick and her husband Gordon.