Silverwood Brands acquires stake in Lush Cosmetics for £216.8m

Silverwood Brands has acquired a 19.8% stake in Lush Cosmetics, the prominent manufacturer and seller of handmade skincare goods and cosmetic products, in a £216.8m deal. 

The conclusion to this transaction comes as VSA Capital Group has been involved in advising the directors of Lush, Andrew Gerrie and Alison Hawksley, for the past two years.

It is reported that the deal is to be satisfied via the issue and allotment of 228,212,632 new ordinary shares to the vendors at a price of 95p per share. 

According to Silverwood Brands, there will be “substantial long-term gains” that it stands to make by owning a stake in the cosmetics brand. Silverwood reportedly intends to hold its stake for the long-term, as they plan to “explore ways in which, together, they can maximise value for all parties”.

Lush has its headquarters in Poole Dorset and operates stores in 48 countries, with its manufacturing facilities located across six countries. 

The deal comes at the same time as Silverwood’s purchase of 90% of the share capital of Sonotas Holdings Corporation and 100% of Sonotas Corporation, a Japanese manufacturer and seller of skincare products, from executive director Andrew Tone. 

Paul Hodgins, non-executive director of Silverwood, said: “I am delighted to announce the transactions relating to Lush and Sonotas. Both are tremendously exciting companies with a vast amount of growth potential.

“Silverwood is a rapidly growing business, with a team of highly experienced independent directors, and we are entrepreneurs ourselves. We have great respect for the strong values and track records of both these highly entrepreneurial companies.”

He added: “We look forward to engaging their management to provide support and to add value where we can, and in doing so also provide strong value to our own rapidly growing shareholder group.”