LONDON, United Kingdom — L'Oreal SA has chosen Brazilian cosmetics firm Natura Cosmeticos SA as well as private equity bidders for the next round of the auction for its Body Shop business, people familiar with the matter said.

CVC Capital Partners, Advent International Corp. and Investindustrial Advisors SpA are also among the firms taken through, the people said, asking not to be identified because the process is private. Bids for the lotions and soaps retailer came in at more than €800 million ($856 million), they said. Binding offers are due in early June, one of the people said.

L’Oreal bought the Body Shop, founded in 1976 by British entrepreneur Anita Roddick, more than a decade ago in a deal that valued it at 652 million pounds ($833 million). The company said this week that it hasn’t yet made a decision on the future of the chain, which saw operating profit drop 38 percent to €33.8 million last year.

Representatives for L’Oreal, CVC and Advent declined to comment. Investindustrial and Natura didn’t immediately respond to requests.

Body Shop had drawn initial bids from around 15 companies, people familiar with the matter said earlier this month. Its French parent company had said in February that it would explore all strategic options for the business, which has been struggling with heavy competition.

By Sarah Syed and Ruth David; editors: Aaron Kirchfeld, Amy Thomson and Paul Jarvis.