Duke Street Capital

Duke Street is a private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments in middle-market companies in Western Europe, particularly the UK and France.

Duke Street
TypePrivate
IndustryPrivate equity
Founded1988 (1988)
HeadquartersLondon, W1
United Kingdom
ProductsLeveraged buyout, Growth capital
Total assets£2.6 billion
Number of employees
45+
Websitewww.dukestreet.com

References

The firm which is based in London was founded in 1988 as Hambro European Ventures, the private equity investment arm of Hambros Bank. The principals of the firm completed a spinout from Hambros in 1998, following the bank's sale to Société Générale, and changed the name of the firm to Duke Street Capital and later Duke Street.

The firm has raised approximately £2.6 billion since inception across six private equity investment funds.[1]

Duke Street, with Hutton Collins, acquired noodle restaurant chain Wagamama in March 2011 for £215 million from Lion Capital[2][3] and announced its funding of the national and international expansion of the business.[4]

In February 2012, Duke Street acquired a majority stake in legal services firm Parabis Group.[5][6] In December 2014, Duke Street invested a further £13 million into Parabis Group to support substantial reforms in response to the Legal Services Act 2007,[7] but in 2015, wrote down their £21.4 million investment.[8]

Among the firm's other notable investments are Gala Bingo,[9] Equity Insurance Group,[10][11] Burton's Foods,[12] Esporta Health Clubs, Getty Images, The Original Factory Shop, LM Funerals, Marie Brizard,[13] Megabowl Oasis,[14] Great Mills[15] and Payzone.[16] In August 2015, Duke Street, with Searchlight Capital Partners, acquired controlling interests in two British construction equipment rental firms, Fork Rent and One Call Hire.[17] In October 2017, Duke Street, backed by Goldman Sachs, acquired TeamSport Go Karting,[18][19] the largest UK go karting operator ranking second largest globally, which was bought out by management in 2013.[20]

In July 2018, Duke Street, for a sum of around £100million, became the new owner of Great Rail Journeys, a tour operator that offers escorted worldwide rail tour holidays, based in York.[21][22]

In November 2022, Duke Street acquired engineering services firm Suir Engineering from Dalkia and EDF Energy.[23][24]

References
  1. Including funds raised prior to the spinout from Hambros
  2. Alves, Joice. "Duke Street Scores 3.4x Multiple on Wagamama Sale". www.penews.com. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  3. "Duke Street agrees wagamama noodle-chain deal". Reuters. 24 March 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  4. Gren, Christy (26 March 2011). "Duke Street Capital acquires Wagamama for £215 million". Industry Leaders Magazine. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  5. "Duke Street buys large stake in claims firm Parabis". Insurance Times. 6 February 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  6. "Private equity house takes majority Parabis stake in law firm LBO first". Law.com International. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  7. Hyde, John (5 December 2014). "Parabis gets £13m private equity injection". Law Gazette. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  8. Hyde, John (5 November 2015). "Duke Street writes down £21.4m Parabis investment". Law Gazette. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  9. Gala hits the jackpot. The Telegraph, Mar 2002
  10. Europe: Britain: Insurer Accepts Buyout Bid. The New York Times, March 17, 2005
  11. Duke Street and Englefield exit Equity Insurance Group in £570m deal Archived June 12, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. AltAssets, December 2006
  12. Duke Street is front-runner in Burton’s Foods race. The Times, February 15, 2007
  13. €397m Marie Brizard exit for Duke Street Archived March 7, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. AltAssets, April 2006
  14. Oasis eyes sale to double dentist practices. The Telegraph, January 9, 2012
  15. BRITISH INVESTMENT FIRM TO BUY HOME IMPROVEMENT CHAIN. The New York Times, December 6, 2000
  16. Private equity group takes 69pc stake in Payzone. Silicon Republic, February 8, 2010
  17. Langworth, Hannah (25 August 2015). "Real Deals". Caspian Media.
  18. "How Duke Street acquired TeamSport". London Business School. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  19. "Wagamama owner wins race for takeover of go-karting group". sky news. 18 October 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  20. "GCA Altium in pole position with TeamSport sale | TheBusinessDesk.com". North West. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  21. "Great Rail Journeys acquired by Duke Street". Travel Weekly. 2 July 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  22. "Rail travel group sets sale to Duke Street in £100m deal". Sky News. 12 June 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  23. Healy, Alan (15 November 2022). "Waterford's Suir Engineering acquired in deal worth up to €80m". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  24. "Suir Engineering acquired by UK private equity group Duke Street". Independent.ie. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2023.


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