Duke Street is a

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...

firm focused on

leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is one company's acquisition of another company using a significant amount of borrowed money (leverage) to meet the cost of acquisition. The assets of the company being acquired are often used as collateral for the loan ...

and

growth capital Growth capital (also called expansion capital and growth equity) is a type of private equity investment, usually a minority investment, in relatively mature companies that are looking for capital to expand or restructure operations, enter new mark ...

investments in

middle-market companies Authorities provide differing definitions of the middle-market or mid-market companies. While some authorities look to revenue generated by companies to define the middle market, other sources regard either asset size or number of employees as a be ...

in Western Europe, particularly the UK and France. The firm which is based in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

was founded in 1988 as Hambro European Ventures, the private equity investment arm of

Hambros Bank Hambros Bank was a British bank based in London. The Hambros bank was a specialist in Anglo-Scandinavian business with expertise in trade finance and investment banking, and was the sole banker to the Scandinavian kingdoms for many years. The Bank ...

. The principals of the firm completed a spinout from Hambros in 1998, following the bank's sale to

Société Générale Société Générale S.A. (), colloquially known in English as SocGen (), is a French-based multinational financial services company founded in 1864, registered in downtown Paris and headquartered nearby in La Défense. Société Générale ...

, and changed 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. Among the firm's most notable investments are

Wagamama Wagamama (stylised as ''wagamama'') is a British restaurant chain, serving Asian food based on Japanese cuisine. History The first Wagamama was opened in 1992 in Bloomsbury, London, founded by Alan Yau, who subsequently created the Chinese rest ...

Gala Bingo Gala Bingo is an online bingo and casino offering under the ownership of Entain. Gala Bingo was created in 1991 as a division of Bass plc. It later became an independent company, and then became the Gala Coral Group after acquiring Coral Eur ...

Equity Insurance Group ERS is a specialist motor insurer. It has been providing insurance products for more than 70 years and now provides cover solely via Lloyd's Syndicate 218. ERS offers a diverse range of products, including private car, classic car, van, motorc ...

Burton's Foods Burton's Biscuit Company is a British biscuit manufacturer. It is recognised in the UK as the second-biggest supplier of biscuits. The company was formed by the merger of Burton's Gold Medal Biscuits and Horizon Biscuit Company in October 2000. I ...

Esporta Health Clubs Esporta Health & Fitness Clubs (usually known as just Esporta) was a chain of health clubs in the United Kingdom, which also once owned clubs in Spain. The clubs offered a wide variety of different fitness facilities, including gyms, swimming pool ...

Getty Images Getty Images Holdings, Inc. is an American visual media company and is a supplier of stock images, editorial photography, video and music for business and consumers, with a library of over 477 million assets. It targets three markets— creative ...

The Original Factory Shop The Original Factory Shop is a discount department store chain that was established in 1969. It currently operates over two hundred stores across the United Kingdom. History The Original Factory Shop was established in 1969 as part of Peter Bla ...

, LM Funerals,

Marie Brizard Marie may refer to: People Name * Marie (given name) * Marie (Japanese given name) * Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973 * Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in T ...

Megabowl Tenpin Ltd (stylized "tenpin"), is one of the largest tenpin bowling brands in the United Kingdom, consisting of 48 bowling centres ranging from 12 to 36 lanes (depending on the width of the centre), which often have on-site restaurants and b ...

Oasis, Great Mills and

Payzone Payzone is a brand name in the consumer payments industry in the UK and Ireland, used by two distinct and separately-owned businesses, which used to be connected. Payzone UK is a consumer payments company founded in 1995 and based in Northwich, ...

. In August 2015, Duke Street, with

Searchlight Capital Partners Searchlight Capital Partners is a private equity firm. Searchlight Capital was established in 2010 by Eric Zinterhofer, Oliver Haarmann, and Erol Uzumeri, its founding partners. It has offices in New York, Conduit Street, London and Toronto. ...

, acquired controlling interests in two British construction equipment rental firms, Fork Rent and One Call Hire.

References

External links

Duke Street
(company website)
Duke Street plans fresh fund
Independent, The (London), January 9, 2006

Independent, The (London), February 9, 1994

Euromoney, January 2003

June 2007 Private equity firms of the United Kingdom Investment banking private equity groups Financial services companies established in 1988 Financial services companies based in London {{UK-private-equity-company-stub