Body Shop Says Two Founders to Step Down

Body Shop International said Anita Roddick and her husband, Gordon, stepped down as co-chairpersons after failing to find a buyer for the retailer of environmentally friendly cosmetics.

The company failed to get the price it wanted in negotiations with the buyout firms Texas Pacific Group and Paribas Affaires Industrielles, people familiar with the talks said.

Body Shop’s market value has dropped $143 million in four years on competition from rivals such as Boots Co.

The Roddicks, who founded Body Shop in 1976, handed the reins to the head of the North American business, Adrian Bellamy.