The owner of Space NK has picked bankers to handle a sale of the high street beauty chain that is expected to fetch more than £300m.

Sky News understands that Manzanita Capital, a private investment firm, has engaged Raymond James to oversee an auction later this year.

Manzanita, which has owned Space NK for more than 20 years, is understood to have not yet made a firm decision on the timing of a sale of one of the UK’s best-known beauty retailers.

One said that based on Space NK’s financial performance, it could be worth between £300m and £400m.

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Manzanita, which also owns the French perfume house Diptyque and Susanna Kaufmann, an Austrian luxury skincare brand, is also said to be undecided about whether to sell a minority or controlling interest in Space NK.

Founded in 1993 by Nicky Kinnaird, Space NK – which is named after her initials – trades from 76 stores and employs more than 1,000 people.

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It specialises in high-end skincare and cosmetics products, and has reported a robust post-Covid trading performance.

In its most recent accounts filed at Companies House, it said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation nearly trebled in the year ended March 25, 2023 to almost £6m.

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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.

Both Manzanita and Raymond James declined to comment on Tuesday morning.

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