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Duke Street sells Wickes for £950m to Travis Perkins and holds onto Focus

Duke Street Capital has realised a significant chunk of one of its biggest investments with the sale of DIY retailer Wickes, part of its Focus Wickes Group roll-up, to trade buyer Travis Perkins. The buyer is paying £950m in cash, of which around £150m is expected to go to Duke Street.

Duke Street's involvement with Focus Wickes stretches back to 1987, when Focus had just six stores. It then went on to finance a string of acquisitions, starting in 1998 with the absorption of Do It All. Wickes itself was incorporated after its hostile takeover by Focus in 2000, adding another 131 stores to the group.

Apax bought a 29 per cent share of the group in 2002 for £120m after Duke Street had been forced to abandon plans to float the business.

The sale of Wickes, which retained an identity independent of Focus at the more professional end of the DIY spectrum, is understood to have generated Duke Street a strong return on their investment. It also leaves them with the sizeable Focus business, itself responsible for around 250 stores.

Duke Street is expected to hold onto Focus for the foreseeable future, probably refinancing it to return some more cash to investors before preparing for a full exit.

Edmund Truell, chairman of Duke Street Capital, said, 'Focus Wickes is an iconic buy and build story. Since we first backed Bill Archer and Geoff Wilson in 1988 the business has been transformed both through sound retail management and strategic acquisitions. We remain very excited by the prospects for Focus and we look forward to continuing to help the business reach its true potential.'

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