July 9
L Brands’ board on July 9 approved the spinoff separating Victoria’s Secret into a stand-alone company. The new publicly traded company includes the Victoria’s Secret Lingerie, Pink and Victoria’s Secret Beauty brands. L Brands plans to change its name to Bath & Body Works Inc., reflecting the remaining banner under the company. The company expects both the spinoff and name change to take effect Aug. 2.
June 21
L Brands on Monday took its final steps in separating Victoria’s Secret into an independent, public company, by filing the necessary paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to an announcement sent to Retail Dive. The business will be called Victoria’s Secret & Co. and will include Victoria’s Secret Lingerie, Pink and Victoria’s Secret Beauty. The separation is expected to be completed in August.
May 11
It’s been a long road for Victoria’s Secret, and in recent years a bumpy one, as the once dominant lingerie brand missed the memo of the #MeToo era.
The brand, which L Brands acquired in 1982 for $1 million, long depended on other-worldly “angels” and sexualized “glamazon” marketing that fell out of favor in the 21st century. Despite clear signs that the consumer was ready for something fresh — increasingly provided by new rivals including DTC brands and American Eagle’s Aerie —Victoria’s Secret was slow to change, and sales growth tanked.
Meanwhile, Bath & Body Works took up the slack, consistently outperforming its sibling quarter upon quarter, with demand stoked last year during the pandemic. L Brands solved its Victoria’s Secret problem early last year by selling off a majority stake to private equity firm Sycamore Partners for a measly $525 million; that fell through due to the pandemic.
Executives remained adamant that their two brands would separate somehow, though. On May 11 they said they had entertained several offers, some topping $3 billion. None passed muster with the board, which voted unanimously to spin the brand off into its own publicly traded entity. The maneuver will be complete some time in August.
The move will be good for both brands, according to GlobalData Managing Director Neil Saunders. ″[T]he divorce gives Victoria’s Secret no place to hide,” he said in emailed comments. “Its numbers will no longer be flattered by the contribution of Bath & Body Works and its management team will be fully accountable to investors. Such accountability is no bad thing and will likely sharpen efforts to enact a genuine turnaround at the company.”