- L Brands is spinning off its
Victoria's Secret brand rather than selling it. - The move will split L Brands into two separate companies, L Brands confirmed in a statement.
- L Brands had been looking for a buyer for Victoria's Secret after a deal fell through last year.
Victoria's Secret is not up for sale anymore, The New York Times first reported.
Victoria's Secret owner L Brands will instead spin off the lingerie brand, The Times reported. L Brands confirmed the news in a statement Tuesday morning.
This will split L Brands into two separate companies. The deal is expected to close in August, sources told The Times.
Read more: The rise and fall of Victoria's Secret, America's biggest lingerie retailer
L Brands, which also owns Bath & Body Works, has been on the hunt for a new buyer for Victoria's Secret since a deal with private equity firm Sycamore Partners fell through in 2020.
Sycamore pulled out of the deal after filing a lawsuit that accused L Brands of violating an agreement between the two companies by closing Victoria's Secret stores during the pandemic, cutting back on new inventory, and not paying rent for April.
L Brands later said the decision to split was mutual.
Since then, Victoria's Secret has made a comeback under new leadership, and as a result, L Brands was seeking a higher valuation for the company than it had before. L Brands CFO Stuart Burgdoerfer previously told Bloomberg that analysts had valued the business at as much as $5 billion.