For more than 135 years, Avon Products was one of the most recognized names in direct sales. The “Avon lady” became a cultural institution, a symbol of women’s economic empowerment long before it was fashionable to talk about such things. At its peak, Avon boasted millions of representatives worldwide and billions in annual revenue. It was, for a long time, the gold standard of network marketing.
So how did the world’s second-largest MLM company end up being sold for one British pound?
The story of Avon and its rocky relationship with Brazilian beauty giant Natura is one of the most dramatic corporate sagas the direct sales industry has ever seen. It is a cautionary tale about overextension, debt, brand erosion, and what happens when a legacy company fails to adapt fast enough. But it is also, perhaps, the beginning of something new.
The Acquisition That Was Supposed to Change Everything
In May 2019, Natura announced its intent to acquire Avon Products in a deal valued at more than $2 billion. The transaction closed in January 2020, creating what was briefly the world’s fourth-largest pure-play beauty company by revenue. The combined group, Natura &Co, also included The Body Shop and the premium skincare brand Aesop.
On paper, the logic was compelling. Natura was a direct sales powerhouse in Latin America with a reputation for ethical sourcing and digital innovation. Avon had global reach, a massive representative network, and iconic brand recognition across Europe, Africa, and Asia. Together, they were supposed to be unstoppable.
The reality turned out to be considerably messier.
The Wheels Come Off
Almost immediately after the acquisition closed, the cracks began to show. Avon International entered the Natura portfolio already carrying significant structural problems: declining representative counts, aging product lines, weakening brand relevance, and mounting debt. The challenges were compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions, and a brutal macroeconomic environment in many of Avon’s key international markets.
Avon International posted nine consecutive quarters of revenue declines. By 2023, Avon Products Inc. (API), the non-operational US holding company for the Avon group, was carrying approximately $1.3 billion in debt, much of it related to talc-based product lawsuits inherited from the legacy Avon business.
In August 2024, Avon Products Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States to address those pre-existing liabilities. Natura was clear that the bankruptcy proceedings were limited to the API holding entity and were not expected to impact Avon brand operations internationally. Nevertheless, the optics were damaging. One of the most famous brands in direct sales history was filing for bankruptcy.
Natura reported a net loss of R$8.9 billion for the full year 2024, a figure that included R$7 billion in non-cash and non-recurring charges tied to the API situation and related write-offs.
The Natura-Avon Integration in Latin America
While Avon International was deteriorating globally, Natura was simultaneously pursuing a major strategic initiative in Latin America: the full integration of the Natura and Avon sales channels under a unified commercial model.
The project was carried out in two waves. Wave 1 was implemented in Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Colombia, delivering record-level results in those markets. Natura reported a 21.1% year-over-year revenue increase for the Natura brand in Brazil during the fourth quarter of 2024, driven by productivity and volume gains, increased cross-selling, and expanded retail presence. The brand expanded to 145 corporate stores and 863 franchised locations by the end of that quarter.
Wave 2 extended the integration to Mexico and Argentina in 2025. The rollout was not without turbulence. Natura acknowledged operational instability in Argentina and a slowdown in the Brazilian beauty market from mid-2025 onward. However, the company confirmed that the full Natura-Avon brand unification in Latin America was completed by the end of 2025.
A noteworthy structural change within the integration was Natura’s decision to discontinue its multilevel commercial model in favor of a bilevel commercial model, described by the company as a crucial step toward channel unification. For network marketers paying attention, this is a significant development: one of the largest MLM operators in the world moved away from a traditional multilevel structure as part of its modernization strategy.
The Sale of Avon International: A Pound and a Lot of Debt
By late 2025, Natura had made a clear strategic decision. Avon International was not something the company could profitably fix. In September 2025, Natura announced the sale of Avon International to Regent LP, a US-based investment fund with experience turning around distressed consumer brands including Bally and La Senza.
The transaction closed on December 31, 2025, for a symbolic consideration of one British pound. Natura agreed to provide Regent with a secured credit facility of $25 million, available until December 2026 with a five-year maturity. Natura may also receive up to £60 million in contingent payments based on future performance and specific liquidity events. Russia operations were excluded from the Regent deal and sold separately in early 2026 for approximately 26.9 million euros.
The Avon brand, intellectual property rights, and all Latin American operations remained fully the property of Natura. In Latin America, Avon is still a meaningful and growing asset. Outside of it, the brand needed a rescuer.
What Does Regent LP Mean for Avon?
Regent LP is a turnaround-focused investment firm, and the acquisition of Avon International looks very much like a distressed asset play. The firm acquires control of Avon’s operations in Europe, Africa, and Asia with the challenge of reversing nearly three years of consecutive revenue declines.
Industry analysts suggest Regent’s likely strategy involves operational restructuring, cost reduction, and a push toward digital transformation to modernize Avon’s historically door-to-door model for the e-commerce era. For the millions of Avon representatives across those international markets, this creates real uncertainty. Whether Regent will invest in rebuilding the representative base or pivot toward a more conventional retail and online model remains to be seen, and the answer will define what Avon International looks like for years to come.
Avon in Latin America: A 2026 Relaunch
While Avon International navigated new ownership, Natura was preparing something different for the brand it retained. In March 2026, Natura kicked off the official relaunch of the Avon brand in Brazil and Mexico, signaling a renewed commitment to the brand’s potential in its strongest markets.
Natura’s CEO João Paulo Ferreira described the completion of the Avon International sale and the relaunch as two sides of the same strategic coin, calling 2026 the beginning of a new cycle of growth, innovation, and differentiation for a simpler, more agile company.
The relaunch comes as Natura’s digital strategy accelerates across Latin America. Digital channel revenue in Brazil grew 24.5% in the fourth quarter of 2025. Non-relationship selling channels accounted for 22.5% of revenue, up more than four percentage points year-on-year. The company’s fintech platform, Emana Pay, reached 41% credit penetration of sales by year-end. Natura is aggressively modernizing the Avon brand to compete in an omnichannel world while retaining the representative network as a core distribution pillar.
Full year 2025 results showed recurring EBITDA margin reaching 14.6%, an increase of 130 basis points over the prior year, and continuing operations delivering net income of nearly R$1 billion. After four consecutive years of margin improvement, Natura entered 2026 in meaningfully better financial health than at any point since the original Avon acquisition.
What the Avon Story Means for the MLM Industry
The transformation of Avon carries implications that extend well beyond one company. Avon is the second-largest MLM company in the world by representative count, with 6.4 million representatives globally. What happens to Avon matters to the entire direct sales industry.
Several lessons stand out clearly.
Brand equity alone is not enough. Avon had one of the most recognized names in beauty for more than a century. That recognition was not sufficient to offset structural decline when the business model stopped evolving.
Debt can be fatal. The $1.3 billion in liabilities that forced the Chapter 11 filing at Avon Products Inc. was largely legacy litigation debt, not operational debt. The financial weight of pre-existing liabilities can destroy even iconic brands.
The multilevel model is under pressure. Natura’s decision to shift away from a multilevel commercial structure to a bilevel model in Latin America reflects a broader trend: companies are rethinking the architecture of direct sales as digital platforms, social commerce, and creator economies reshape how products reach consumers.
Integration is harder than acquisition. Buying a brand and actually integrating it into your operations are two entirely different challenges. The Natura-Avon integration in Latin America took years, cost billions, and required a painful reorganization of the entire corporate structure before it began delivering the results that justified the original investment.
Geographic focus beats global ambition. Natura’s pivot from trying to run a global beauty empire back to its core strength in Latin America is a masterclass in strategic discipline. By shedding Avon International, The Body Shop, and Aesop, the company returned to profitability and positioned itself to grow from a position of strength rather than survival.
What Comes Next
For Avon representatives in Europe, Africa, and Asia, 2026 is a year of waiting and watching. Regent LP has not made public announcements about sweeping changes, but a turnaround firm that paid one pound for a distressed asset will inevitably make significant moves to cut costs and find a viable path to profitability.
For Avon representatives and customers in Latin America, the picture is more optimistic. The relaunch of the Avon brand in Brazil and Mexico in March 2026 suggests Natura sees real runway for the brand in its home markets. With a unified sales channel, an accelerating digital strategy, and four consecutive years of margin improvement behind it, Natura is better positioned than it has been in years.
The Avon story is not over. But it is decisively different from what anyone imagined when Natura made that $2 billion bet in 2019. The world’s most famous direct sales brand has been split in two, and the two halves face entirely different futures.
For anyone in network marketing watching from the outside, it is a reminder that no company is too big, too old, or too iconic to be disrupted by the relentless forces of debt, digital transformation, and strategic misalignment.
Talk Soon,
Ty Tribble
Download Ty Tribble’s free book, The Online Downline, and discover the step-by-step system to grow your network marketing business online without spamming your friends and family.
