L Brands, the holding company of Victoria’s Secret, is splitting off the lingerie division. After a previous sales attempt failed, Victoria’s Secret is now left to fend for itself.
Spin-off yields highest return
The American L Brands is splitting into two parts: the current CEO of the group, Andrew Meslow, will remain in charge of personal care brand Bath & Body Works, while lingerie chain Victoria’s Secret will be made independent under the leadership of its current CEO Martin Waters. This is reported by Reuters.
The spin-off is estimated to be worth between 5 and 7 billion dollars, which is more than the lingerie label would receive in the event of a takeover. In 2020, L Brands already tried to divest the brand, but the bids barely topped 3 billion dollars. A deal with investor group Sycamore, which was to take a majority stake, had previously been struck down due to the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis.
As of August, Victoria and her former ‘Angels’ will go their separate ways. In the first quarter, until May 1st, the lingerie formula still enjoyed some propitious conditions at L Brands: the group’s turnover is expected to reach 3.02 billion dollars (about 2.5 billion euros), which is obviously a lot better than the 1.65 billion dollars of the disaster year that was 2020. Both Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret contributed to the growth.
