Avon UK owner files bankruptcy to avoid $1bn debt
Avon’s operations, including its Northampton-headquartered UK arm, will continue to trade and no job cuts are expected as part of the process
The owner of Avon in the UK, Europe and Latin America, Avon Products Inc (API), has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as it tries to offload $1bn worth of debt, according to The Telegraph.
The debt also includes millions of dollars in liabilities linked to lawsuits alleging that talc in its products caused cancer.
Avon has repeatedly denied the claims arguing it “only uses cosmetic grade talc which has been tested to confirm that it does not contain asbestos”.
The subsidiary of Natura and Co which bought Avon’s non-North American trading businesses in 2020 has filed for the American equivalent of administration.
The manoeuvre, which has already been blocked by US courts twice, would consolidate all lawsuits and allow them to be settled as part of one agreement.
API said that the process would allow it to address its debt obligations in an “orderly manner”.
Natura has proposed to buy back its trading operations outside the US for $125m (£97m) after the bankruptcy process is complete.
Avon’s operations, including its Northampton-headquartered UK arm, will continue to trade and no job cuts are expected as part of the process.