Victoria's Secret has called off their deal with Sycamore Partners to take the retailer private.
Victoria's Secret Angel Taylor Hill
The luxury lingerie brand's parent company, L Brands, has cancelled the $535 million agreement to sell a 55 per cent stake in the Victoria's Secret brand, amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The deal was signed in February, but Sycamore filed a suit last month, requesting that a judge terminates the contract after L Brands allegedly violated the terms of the agreement by closing its US stores and temporarily shutting down the e-commerce side of the business, resulting in the company furloughing staff.
But they've now jointly agreed to end the deal and Victoria's Secret is now a separate brand altogether.
A statement from L Brands' director Sarah Nash read: "Like all retailers, the company faces an extremely challenging business environment.
"Our board believes that it is in the best interest of the company, our stockholders and our associates to focus our efforts entirely on navigating this environment to address those challenges and positioning our brands for success rather than engaging in costly and distracting litigation to force a partnership with Sycamore."
The retailer is now making their successful bath soap chain Bath & Body Works a priority.
Nash continued: "We are implementing significant cost reduction actions and performance improvements at Victoria's Secret while continuing to drive strong growth at Bath & Body Works.
"We will continue to make decisions and take actions with the best interest of our stakeholders and the future of our company in mind."
The lingerie company - whose fashion shows have been fronted by models including Taylor Hill, Alexina Graham, Elsa Hosk and Martha Hunt - shut its retail stores across North America in March, and had closed its online stores with an aim to reopen on March 29.
The axed deal comes after L Brands - who acquired Victoria's Secret and its subsidiary apparel line PINK in 1982 - decided to halt sales to focus on e-commerce production and distributions of soap and hand sanitiser.
The firm saw demand for soaps and hand sanitisers increase dramatically, which is why they opted to focus on Bath & Body Works.