Ann: Business Update, page-38

BWX receivers KPMG appoints Greenhill as sales process starts (copyright link)


KPMG, the receivers of collapsed beauty business BWX, has appointed corporate advisors at Greenhill to sell the company, which runs the natural skincare brand Sukin and operates a manufacturing facility in Victoria.Grant Samuel has been separately appointed to sell BWX’s stake in the Go-To brand, which is part owned by Zoe Foster Blake. “We expect significant interest given the strength and popularity of the Sukin brand,” said KPMG partner David Hardy.Grant Samuel has separately been engaged to advise on the sale of the company’s investment in the Go-To skincare brand, in which it acquired a major share from Zoe Foster Blake for $89 million in August 2021.BWX, which owns brands like Sukin, Mineral Fusion and Andalou Naturals, nosedived more than 97 per cent since its share peak some five years ago before calling in administrators at FTI Consulting. KPMG were appointed soon after, and have already sold some smaller assets, known as BWX Digital, to HealthPost, a family-owned business in New Zealand.Street Talk has previously reported that Allegro Funds, Tanarra Restructuring Partners, Adamantem Capital and Point King Capital have taken a look at BWX – but passed. Andrew Forrest’s Tattarang held a 19.99 per cent stake in the business.

Grant Samuel called in to shop BWX’s Go-to Skincare stake (copyright link)

KPMG has mandated Grant Samuel to shop BWX’s 50.1 per cent stake in Go-to Skincare, while it aims to finalise a sell-side adviser for Sukin by May end. BWX paid $89 million or 14.9-times earnings to buy the majority stake in Go-to Skincare in 2021. It has been beholden to a put-option liability worth $59.2 million that would force it to buy the remaining shareholding from the brand’s founder Zoe Foster Blake.Go-to Skincare was carved out of the receivership, but its sale price would be crucial to the amount that lender CBA will finally recover from the $105 million that it was owed when BWX called in voluntary administrators.In the past, international majors like Unilever and L Catterton, are understood to have taken a look but passed. Foster Blake was understood to have held talks to potentially buy-back the stake in early days of the receivership.

Deals not expected until November

BWX’s voluntary administrators FTI Consulting received court approval on Monday to push out the “convening period” for the second creditor’s meeting until November 13.In simple terms, that means BWX’s receiver KPMG, which has been running the sale process, reckons it won’t have a buyer locked in for another six months.It’s a surprising slow-down in the process.It took KPMG only three weeks to mop up the sale of BWX’s digital brands, including Nourished Life and Flora & Fauna.But the money-spinners in BWX’s stables are Sukin and Go-To Skincare – and hammering out a deal for these two is taking longer than expected despite early interest.Street Talk has previously spotted Allegro Funds, Tanarra Restructuring Partners, Adamantem Capital and Point King Capital around BWX, in which Andrew Forrest’s Tattarang owns a 19.99 per cent stake. Chemist Warehouse, a key stockist for Sukin, is also understood to have taken a look.