DFS was taken over by Advent International this morning for £500 million, marking a dramatic U-turn by Lord Kirkham who owns the furniture chain.
The sale of the retailer is one of the biggest private equity deals this year and has been announced only weeks after Lord Kirkham pulled the company off the market, saying: “I am categorically not interested in selling the business. I don’t need the money. I’m loaded”.
Cinven and Advent were both competing to buy the company when Lord Kirkham changed his mind last month. He said at the time: “I can guarantee that in two months, three months, I will still own this business. It’s going nowhere”.
But Lord Kirkham, who founded the company 40 years ago, said in a statement today: “Advent’s investment in DFS is undoubtedly the start of an exciting new phase in the company’s development”.
Source Times Online
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