Mon, 13 Dec 2021 | BUSINESS SALE
Chemist chain Boots is reportedly exploring a sale of personal care brand Aromatherapy Associates. The sale, which does not involve any of Boots’ other subsidiary brands, comes at a time when Boots itself is facing being put up for sale by owner Walgreens Boots Alliance.
Sources quoted in reports have said that a sale of Aromatherapy Associates would not be expected to generate more than "a few tens of millions of pounds" if it went ahead. There has, so far, not been a more precise valuation of the business.
Aromatherapy Associates was founded by Geraldine Howard and Sue Beechey in 1985, before being acquired by Boots in 2014. The company has grown to offer a wide range of products based around essential oils, including body oils, candles and diffusers.
In its most recent financial accounts, for the year ending August 31 2020, Aromatherapy Associates reported revenue of £6.5 million, down from £8.4 million a year earlier, on which it generated a post-tax loss of £1.5 million. At the time, the business’ total assets were valued at £6.9 million, with total equity standing at £890,000.
In its strategic report, the company said that the fall in revenue was a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic “significantly impacting core sale channels and causing disruption to distribution activities.”
The news of a potential sale of Aromatherapy Associates comes after the recent announcement that Walgreens Boots Alliance had engaged bankers from Goldman Sachs to explore options for the UK chemist chain, which could include a sale or spin-off into a separate listed business.
Boots has a history dating back over 170 years, with a network of around 2,200 stores and approximately 55,000 employees, putting it among the UK’s biggest private sector employers. It is thought that a sale of the business could reach between £5 billion and £10 billion.
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