A New York-listed company with a valuation of more than $21bn is to snap up Space NK, the British high street beauty chain.
Sky News has learnt that Ulta Beauty, which operates close to 1,500 stores, is on the verge of a deal to buy Space NK from existing owner Manzanita Capital.
Ulta Beauty is understood to have registered an acquisition vehicle at Companies House in recent weeks.
Money blog: Top chef reveals thing he hates about customers
The exact price being paid by Ulta was unclear on Thursday morning, although one source said it was likely to be well in excess of £300m.
Manzanita Capital, a private investment firm, engaged bankers at Raymond James to oversee an auction in April 2024.
The firm has owned Space NK for more than 20 years.
New Look owners line up bankers to fashion high street exit
Full list of 33 River Island shop closures
Poundland to stop paying rent at hundreds of stores in rescue deal
Manzanita has also owned the French perfume house Diptyque and Susanne Kaufmann, an Austrian luxury skincare brand.
Read more from Sky News:
Royal Mail to scrap second-class post on some days
Warning a pub a day to close this year
Follow our channel and never miss an update.
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
Founded in 1993 by Nicky Kinnaird, Space NK – which is named after her initials – trades from dozens of stores and employs more than 1,000 people.
It specialises in high-end skincare and cosmetics products.
Manzanita previously explored a sale of Space NK in 2018, hiring Goldman Sachs to handle a strategic review, but opted not to proceed with a deal.
None of Ulta, Manzanita, Space NK and Raymond James could be reached for comment.
