One of South Korea's biggest companies is weighing up a bid for The Body Shop chain.
Food-to-entertainment giant CJ said it was mulling over an approach, but had not yet decided whether to make a formal offer.
French cosmetics group L'Oreal put The Body Shop on the sale block in February, more than 10 years after snapping up the ethical skincare brand.
It said at the time that it was "exploring all strategic options" regarding its ownership of the firm which was founded by Anita Roddick in 1976.
L'Oreal is believed to have put a €1 billion price tag on the chain.
A raft of private equity firms are said to be eyeing bids ahead of a mid-April deadline.
The sale comes after The Body Shop has suffered sliding sales, with its most recent update showing a lacklustre performance in Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong continuing to dog the firm.
Sales at the brand sank 5% to €920.8m in 2016, down from €967.2m in the previous year.
But L'Oreal said in February that The Body Shop's "momentum was good" in Europe - especially in the UK - and across Latin America thanks to a new operation in Chile.
Anita Roddick and her husband banked around £117m from their 18% stake in the business when they backed the board's decision to push through a £652.3m sale to L'Oreal in March 2006.
The company has 3,000 stores in 66 countries, employing around 22,000 people.
