Revolution Beauty founder in multi-million settlement talks amid crisis

By Jennifer Sieg

The founder of Revolution Beauty is in talks to reimburse nearly £3m for claims of breaching fiduciary duties to the company, the London-listed cosmetics group said today.

It was confirmed the beleaguered company is in talks to reach potential agreements with former chief executive Adam Minto, who stepped down over a year ago.

Considerations with former executive chairman and previous owner of Medichem, Tom Allsworth, to reach a revised agreement on the terms of its acquisition were also acknowledged.

Sources told Sky NewsMark Kleinmanyesterday that a settlement agreement could be announced within weeks as Revolution Beauty hopes it will salvage a dispute from earlier this year after it listed in London with a value of nearly £500m.

A letter of claim sent to Minto, according to the outlet, said: “The claim alleges that Mr Minto breached his fiduciary, statutory, contractual and/or tortious duties to the company.

“Certain of the matters alleged contributed to the delay in the audit of the group’s results for the financial year of 2022, and to the suspension of the company’s shares from trading on AIM.

“The company is looking to recover material sums relating to the exceptional costs the company incurred as a result of the matters alleged.”

The group said just this morning: “Revolution Beauty remains in negotiation on both these issues.

“There is no guarantee that agreements will be reached. Should agreements be reached, they would likely be treated as related party transactions and an appropriate announcement made at that time.”

The company’s value has been tumbling, with a market capitalisation at Friday’s close of £81m among its governance and operational crises.