UPDATE: Victoria's Secret Sale Agreement Terminated and Store Closings Announced

On May 4, 2020, L Brands announced its Go-Forward Strategy as well as the mutual agreement with Sycamore Partners to terminate the previously announced transaction.

L Brands restated its commitment to transitioning Bath & Body Works into a pure-play public company.  Importantly, it also announced, its drive to continue to take necessary steps to prepare the Victoria’s Secret businesses to operate as a separate, standalone company. 

On May 21, 2020, during a call with analysts, following L Brands' First Quarter 2020 Results released on May 20, 2020, Victoria’s Secret interim CEO Stuart Burgdoerfer, said that more than 250 Victoria's Secret retail stores across the USA and Canada would be closing permanently and that there would likely be more closures in the years to come.

In relation to the current global situation, the termination of the mutual agreement, and in announcing the Go-Forward Strategy, Sarah Nash, current director and future Chair of L Brands’ Board, said, “Like all retailers, the company faces an extremely challenging business environment. Our Board believes that it is in the best interests of the company, our stockholders and our associates to focus our efforts entirely on navigating this environment to address those challenges and positioning our brands for success rather than engaging in costly and distracting litigation to force a partnership with Sycamore. We are implementing significant cost reduction actions and performance improvements at Victoria’s Secret while continuing to drive strong growth at Bath & Body Works. We will continue to make decisions and take actions with the best interests of all our stakeholders and the future of our company in mind.”