Body Shop is likely to see a swathe of store closures if reports of administration this week are confirmed, according to City commentators.
Weekend stories said Aurelius was planning the move after trading over Christmas was worse than expected.
Analysts said job cuts and store closures would also certainly follow.
“Whatever the outcome, it looks likely that many shops will shut for good, opening up fresh holes in high streets across the UK,” Susannah Streeter at Hargreaves Lansdown said on Monday.
Founded in 1976 and now operating some 200 stores, Body Shop was bought by private equity firm Aurelius just six weeks ago, with tough results for the Christmas period revealing a lack of working capital.
Competition from new rivals such as Lush has also eroded its market position.
“Administration will mean the company is protected from compulsory liquidation and offers legal protection from creditors’ demands,” Streeter added.
“It will give Aurelius breathing space to restructure and close highly underperforming stores and refocus attention on e-commerce sales.”
Some shops will survive, but the scale of the business will be substantially reduced, she added.
Aurelius is the third owner of the chain since founder Anita Roddick sold the chain in 2006 to L’Oreal for £652m.
Brazilian group Natura acquired the chain from L'Oreal in an £880m deal before it was sold on to private equity firm Aurelius in November.
Aurelius bought it in a cut-price deal valuing the British high-street beauty products chain at £207 million.
Last week, The Body Shop's businesses across most of Europe and parts of Asia were sold to an unnamed family office.
Aurelius Group also owns Footasylum and Lloyds Pharmacy.