In July 2021, BWX acquired online ethical retailer, Flora & Fauna, for $27 million. Founded by Julie Mathers and Tom Abraham in 2014, the company specialises in ethical, sustainable and vegan products across 10 categories, including beauty and personal care.
The fortunes of BWX, the owner of brands including Sukin and Andalou Naturals, nosedived into a highly publicised voluntary administration recently and the company appointed KPMG as receivers and managers to seek out new owners for some of its brands.
The professional services firm called for expressions of interest in mid-April for BWX Digital, the division including Flora & Fauna and Nourished Life. Sweeteners to attract interested parties included revenues of $32.5 million in combined platform sales in FY22 and 337,000 loyalty program members.
The new owners of BWX Digital are Julie Mathers, the founder of Flora & Fauna, and HealthPost, the NZ-based online retailer, who were keen to snap up its two Australian competitors. The two partners have created a new company, The Future Collective, to oversee the future of Flora & Fauna and Nourished Life.
HealthPost is a family-owned business founded in 1988 by Abel Butler and his partner Lilani Rogers. It is a pure-play online retailer of natural health, beauty and eco products with a range of 6000-plus items from 350 brands. The company’s annual revenues are NZ$35 million (AU$ 32.74 million).
The Future Collective is 70 per cent owned by HealthPost, 15 per cent by Abel Butler and Lilani Rogers and 15 per cent by Julie Mathers and Tom Abraham, who now run the baby brand, Snuggle Hunny.
HealthPost approached Mathers to assist in the acquisition of Flora & Fauna and Nourished Life and future prospects looks brighter as both partners are proven players in speciality e-commerce.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed but the deal included IP, goodwill, websites, data and stock. Nourished Life was founded by Irene Falcone in 2011 and was bought by BWX in 2017 for $20 million.
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