Revolution Beauty responds to “cynical” Boohoo takeover plans
The board of Revolution Beauty has accused its majority shareholder Boohoo of a “cynical” attempt to seize control of the cosmetics brand.
Revolution said that Boohoo’s “hostile” requisition is “value-destructive, opportunistic and self-serving, as well as not being in the interests of the company’s shareholders as a whole.”
Boohoo, which controls 26.6% of Revolution’s share capital, announced on Monday that it would be voting against the reappointment of a number of senior figures of the cosmetics brand’s board.
The online retailer also said it would be proposing the appointment of its own senior leadership team, stating that the “right retail, e‐commerce and consumer brands experience is required to deliver shareholder value”.
Revolution said that Boohoo’s actions would create considerable risk to the restoration of trading in the company’s shares, which were suspended in September 2022. The cosmetics brand also argued that Boohoo’s actions “appear calculated to destabilise rather than support the business”.
Following its suspension from the stock exchange, the brand came under fire after an independent audit found a number of financial wrongdoings.
However Revolution has now argued that the current directors and management team have navigated the brand out of the “chaos” arising from the historical management and governance issues within the business.
The cosmetics brand has also drawn attention towards improved trading and said the board is focused on ensuring value creation at this time.
Revolution has proposed that the annual general meeting, which is scheduled for June 27, be pushed back to a later date to allow shareholders to decide if they believe Boohoo’s strategy is “viable”.
Bob Holt, CEO of Revolution Beauty, said: “We have a clear strategy, ongoing momentum and a highly relevant and attractive customer offer, demonstrated by the encouraging recent trading performance of the business. While we operate an omni-channel approach, our future growth is first and foremost via a global retailer strategy. This is clearly at odds with boohoo’s entirely online model.
“Since joining Revolution Beauty as CEO, I have worked closely with our CFO Elizabeth Lake to strengthen the Company’s internal controls and ensure we are acting in the interests of all our shareholders. This is an inherently strong business which, due to previous management, is now significantly undervalued and whose shares remain suspended from trading. It is evident that boohoo is seeking opportunistically to take advantage of this situation.”