China’s Fosun has become the latest Chinese group to gatecrash the €800m auction to buy The Body Shop, the struggling British skincare retailer, which has been put up for sale by French cosmetics group L’Oréal.
According to two people close to the process, Fosun submitted an offer before a Monday deadline for second round bids. The move marks a high-profile return to bidding for European assets for Fosun, which was one of China’s most acquisitive groups before a domestic clampdown threw a spanner into its dealmaking attempts.
It comes as Investindustrial, a European private equity firm, has invited the investment vehicle of Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma to join its consortium bid and as China’s Renhe Pharmacy Co has also considered entering the process.