Mr Jatania’s investment firm Aurea announced the completion of the acquisition on Saturday, with Mr Jatania and Charles Denton, former chief executive of beauty brand Molton Brown, to head the new leadership team.
In a statement, Aurea said the acquisition was its largest transaction to date and it would “steer the Body Shop’s revival and reclaim its global leadership in the ethical beauty sector it pioneered”.
The Body Shop was founded in Brighton by Anita Roddick, who started the company from a single store in Kensington Gardens in the heart of the North Laine in 1976, becoming well-known for its ethical trading practices and cruelty-free ingredients.
The first The Body Shop store in Brighton in 1976
She opened another shop the following year and had grown to 138 stores by 1984, with several in other countries.
Dame Anita, who was born in Littlehampton, sold the business to L’Oréal in 2006 for £652 million, but attracted criticism for their links to animal testing.
She died the following year in Chichester at the age of 64 in 2007 after suffering from a brain haemorrhage.
It is understood there are no immediate plans to shut any of its 116 remaining UK stores.
READ MORE: The history of Sussex brand The Body Shop
The Body Shop has one store in Brighton, in North Street, as well as a branch in Hove’s George Street.
The company has five other stores across Sussex, in Worthing, Horsham, Eastbourne, Crawley and Chichester.
Anita Roddick in 2001
The Body Shop fell into administration in early February.
In the weeks that followed, administrators said hundreds of jobs would be lost and dozens of shops closed.
The Hastings branch was one of the 75 stores to close earlier this year.
Mr Jatania, co-founder of Aurea, said: “With the Body Shop, we have acquired a truly iconic brand with highly engaged consumers in over 70 markets around the world.
“We plan to focus relentlessly on exceeding their expectations by investing in product innovation and seamless experiences across all of the channels where customers shop while paying homage to the brand’s ethical and activist positioning.”
Charles Denton, chief executive of the Body Shop, said: “We believe there’s a sustainable future ahead and working closely with the management team we aim to restore the Body Shop’s unique, values-driven, independent spirit.”
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