Bridgepoint, the European private equity group, has made £100m (€146m) on the sale of Molton Brown, a UK beauty products manufacturer it has kept in its portfolio for 11 years.

Kao Corporation, a Japanese consumer products manufacturer, has bought the company for £170m in an auction run by Rothschild that is understood to have attracted interest from both private equity and trade buyers. Molton Brown had turnover of £45m in the year to March this year.