Frasers Group drops out of Revolution Beauty race

Sports Direct owner Frasers Group has pulled out of the bidding race for Revolution Beauty. The retail giant said in a regulatory filing that it “now confirms that it does not intend to make an offer” for the British cosmetics brand.

Revolution Beauty launched its formal sales process last month after receiving a preliminary takeover offer for its entire issue and to be issued share capital from an unnamed party.

Interested bidders could submit their interest by June 11, with it emerging that Frasers was among “a number of parties” to have done so.

Revolution Beauty noted Frasers’ latest announcement in its own statement, adding that it “continues to have constructive engagement with a number of other interest parties”, yet there was “no certainty that an offer will be made”. The company is also continuing to discuss options with its shareholders, including a potential equity raise.

Frasers’ initial pursuit was notable given that Revolution Beauty’s largest shareholder is Debenhams Group, formerly Boohoo Group, a long-standing rival of Mike Ashley’s conglomerate, which had attempted to takeover the fast fashion giant amid its restructuring last year.

Debenhams, which owns a 27.09 percent stake in Revolution, had assigned its own board member, Iain McDonald, to oversee the beauty brand’s sales process.

The Boohoo parent company enacted a boardroom takeover of Revolution back in 2023 following an investigation into the brand’s financial results, which revealed a nine million pound inflation of sales.