Victoria's Secret Lingerie Brand Reportedly Put Up for Sale
February 23, 2021 at 08:26 am EST
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Less than a year after the pandemic thwarted an effort to sell Victoria's Secret Stores, LLC to the investment firm Sycamore Partners Management, L.P., the lingerie chain’s owner, L Brands, Inc. (NYSE:LB), will again test private equity’s appetite for the business, according to the DealBook newsletter. L Brands’ bankers at The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) will begin formally pitching buyout firms about a potential takeover as soon as this week. L Brands said in February 2021 that it was weighing a sale or spinoff of Victoria’s Secret by August 2021, as it focuses on its faster-growing Bath & Body Works division. Victoria’s Secret had “substantially increased its valuation” and that L Brands was still evaluating all options for the business, Stuart Burgdoerfer, the Chief Financial Officer of L Brands, said in a statement. Victoria’s Secret has embarked on a turnaround effort since the Sycamore sale collapsed. A priority has been overhauling its brand, as younger customers shunned its overtly sexy products for alternatives focused on comfort and criticized its marketing as exclusionary.
Bath & Body Works, Inc. is an omnichannel retailer focused on personal care and home fragrance. The Company sells merchandise through its retail stores in the United States (U.S.) and Canada, and through its websites and other channels, under the Bath & Body Works, White Barn and other brand names. Its international business is conducted through franchise, license and wholesale partners. It offers a range of care and home fragrance, including collections of fine fragrance mist, body lotion and body cream, 3-wick candles, home fragrance diffusers and liquid hand soap. Its products are differentiated through a combination of fragrance, packaging and quality at accessible prices. It also sells products under its sub brands, including White Barn. Its merchandise is sold through about 1,850 Company-operated stores and e-commerce sites in U.S. and Canada, and in 485 stores and 28 e-commerce sites in more than 40 other countries operating under franchise, license and wholesale arrangements.
BATH & BODY WORKS, INC. 
