Revolution Beauty has put itself up for sale after receiving a formal offer to acquire the embattled make-up brand.
The takeover bid, which was put forward by an unnamed company, sought to acquire the entire issued, and remaining, share capital of Revolution Beauty.
It follows the UK make-up brand’sreview of its funding structure in May, with the business seeking support for an equity raise from its key shareholders.
Revolution Beauty’s board concluded that, in light of both of these aspects, it was “appropriate to investigate the sale of the company”.
UK investment banking and corporate broking firm Panmure Liberum is managing the potential sale.
“As part of the formal sale process, the board invites expressions of interest from parties regarding a potential offer for the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of the company,” Revolution Beauty said in a statement.
To support the sales process, Revolution Beauty will appoint former THG Director and founder of Belerion Capital, Iain McDonald, as Non-Executive Chair.
McDonald will succeed Alistair McGeorge, who is standing down from the board.
“Iain has significant PLC experience as a Non-Executive Director, including in takeover situations, and is considered by the board to have the right skills to oversee the immediate strategic steps of the company, including the formal sale process,” Revolution Beauty added.
“The board thanks Alistair for his significant contribution to the company since his appointment in July 2023.”
The sale announcement follows a 26% decline in annual revenue for 2025 by the mass beauty brand.
FY25 revenue totalled approximately £141.6m, down from the previous year, following the discontinuation of more than 6,000 SKUs.
Revolution Beauty is currently undertaking a major restructuring of its product and brand portfolio.
The move is part of a strategy to streamline operations and focus on a scalable, core product range across global retail partners.
The trading update came just one month after Revolution Beauty’s CEO, Lauren Brindley, announced her exit from the fast beauty brand.
Brindley will step down from the position and the company’s board on 31 May, and is moving to Ulta Beauty to serve as Chief Merchandising and Digital Officer.
The sales process is the latest chapter in a tumultuous few years for Revolution Beauty.
A damning investigation into management failures at the company and lagging salesplagued the beauty retailer through 2022 and 2023.
The situation escalated further after etailer Boohoo declared it was staging a coup against the beauty brand in June 2023.
Boohoo claimed board members did not hold the “right retail, e-commerce and consumer brands experience” to deliver shareholder value and planned to oust the leadership team.
Revolution Beauty hit back at Boohoo’s takeover attempt, however, calling it “value-destructive, opportunistic and self-serving”.
Events came to a head during a wildly chaotic AGM in June 2023 which saw the firing of Holt, as well as chair Derek Zissman and CFO Elizabeth Lake.
Jeremy Schwartz, the remaining board member and Director, chose to immediately reinstate the trio during the meeting.
Following Brindley’s appointment, Revolution Beauty started to see a return in profit growth thanks to a recovery strategy, dubbed ‘Reigniting the Revolution’, bolstering sales in 2024.