The woes of BWX, the battered owner of skincare brands and marketplaces including Sukin, Flora & Fauna and Nourished Life, has been transfixing the Australian beauty market for months.
Over the past year, the company has been afflicted by trading rights halts, a significant drop in revenues, the departure of CEO Rory Gration and a $100 million hit to its bottom line to cherry-pick the barest details. In March, Purely Byron, the skincare company owned by superstar Chris Hemsworth, his wife Elsa Pataky and BWX also went into voluntary administration.
Last week, BWX itself also entered voluntary administration after major lender the Commonwealth Bank decided to stop relaxing covenants which expired on March 31st. FTI Consulting, the international consultancy firm, have been appointed as the administrators and have assumed the day-to-day running of the company to adopt a business-as-usual MO until an outcome is reached.
BWX also owns the US brands Andalou Naturals and Mineral Fusion, but these are not involved in the administration process. Neither is Zoe Foster Blake’s Go-To skincare brand, in which BWX acquired a 50.1 per cent stake in 2021.
The BWX Digital division, comprising online businesses Nourished Life and Flora & Fauna, have also appointed KPMG as receiver and managers to oversee their daily operations. In a further bid to shrink its portfolio, BWX is also looking to sell or recapitalise the assets and operations of both e-commerce platforms.
BWX acquired Nourished Life in 2017 for a consideration of $20 million and bought Flora & Fauna in July 2021 for $27.9 million.
The company has confirmed it is seeking a buyer for its majority stake in Go-To and stresses that it is progressing with an established restructuring process as the best way back to profitability.
Go-To is publicly stressing the fact that it is independent of BWX and has enjoyed double digit growth YTD. In March, the brand continued its international expansion, rolling out in Douglas, one of the biggest perfume and cosmetic chains in Europe.
On a more positive note, BWX estimates that revenues for FY 23 will be in the range of $150 million to $170 million, depending on a range of debt and organisational restructures already in motion.
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