THE three founders of the Body Shop celebrated an unprecedented windfall yesterday as they agreed to sell the company for £652 million to L’Oréal, the French cosmetics giant.

Dame Anita Roddick and her husband, Gordon, will receive £117 million from the deal and their reclusive partner, Ian McGlinn, will make £137 million. It marks the end of an era for the Body Shop and Dame Anita, who borrowed £3,000 from Mr McGlinn to set up a shop in Brighton 30 years ago.

Dame Anita, 63, arguably Britain’s most prominent businesswoman, denied that she was “selling out”. She has spent years campaigning about controversial subjects such as fair trade and animal testing, while L’Oréal has continued to test products on animals. She said that she would stay as a consultant, adding that the Body Shop’s ethics would not change.

“I don’t see it as selling out,” she said. “For both Gordon and I, this is without doubt the best 30th anniversary gift the Body Shop could have received.”

The alliance with Mr McGlinn was formed in 1976 when Dame Anita, a self- confessed hippy who found natural ingredients to sell as cosmetics in cheap plastic bottles, needed money to open a second shop. Her bank had rejected her request for a loan on the ground that her business idea was not viable.

Mr McGlinn, who lived in a grimy two-bedroom flat over a dilapidated car park, had a reputation as a loner who fraternised with local bartenders, but few other people. He dug deep into his meagre savings to find the money. In return, he was given half the company.

Dame Anita said: “I needed the money quickly and Ian was the only one who would give it to me. He believed that if he got back eight grand it would have been a terrific investment. In fact, it was like winning the pools over and over again.”

The Body Shop empire has grown to 2,000 shops in 50 countries, selling products such as aloe vera, jojoba oil and cocoa butter in recycled packaging. While Ms Roddick has remained involved in the Body Shop, Mr McGlinn has rarely interfered in the business. She told one reporter: “He is the perfect sleeping partner. He has never woken up.”

Unlike Dame Anita, Mr McGlinn has shunned the limelight. After buying a 24-room mansion in Poole, Dorset, he went on to buy the house next door to ensure that he was not bothered by nosy neighbours.

In the late Nineties, he was banned from a bar in Cala d’Or, Majorca, for trying to balance a dozen lager glasses on his balding head. Ben Klijberg, the bar manager, told reporters that he had thrown him out.

The Body Shop accepted an offer of 300p a share from L’Oréal — a big premium on its closing price of 268p last night. The shares surged 10 per cent yesterday.

Mr McGlinn could make £137 million from his 21 per cent stake, while the Roddicks hold another 2 per cent in charitable trusts.

L’Oréal, which makes Ambre Solaire suncream and Lancôme lipsticks, said that the Body Shop brand would be retained and the company would continue to be based in and run independently from its headquarters in Littlehampton, West Sussex.

The French company said that the Body Shop would enhance its business because of its “sizeable and complementary brand” across 54 countries.

It produced revenues of £419 million last year from its 2,085 shops, 304 of which are in Britain.

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