Consortium buys Threshers

Threshers Group, the UK’s largest off-licence chain, has been bought by a team of private equity investors led by Edmund Truell.


Threshers Group, the UK’s largest off-licence chain, has been bought by a team of private equity investors led by Edmund Truell.

Threshers Group, the UK’s largest off-licence chain, has been bought by a team of private equity investors led by Edmund Truell.

Private equity firm Terra Firma confirmed this morning that it has sold the group, which its subsidiary Nomura bought for £225 million seven years ago.

Press reports suggested Terra Firma made a loss on the deal, however this was denied by a spokesman, who said a “slight” profit was made.

Threshers, based in Welwyn Garden City, has about 2,000 shops and 12,000 staff.

Truell founded Duke Street Capital, a private equity firm, in 1988, which has funds of around £1.5 billion.

Last month Terra Firma raised £200 million through a sale and lease-back deal on a portion of the Threshers estate. The off-license chain owns around two thirds of the market, including The Local, Wine Rack, Victoria Wine and Threshers off-licenses as well as Haddows in Scotland.

Terra Firma is a European private equity firm, created in 2002 as the independent successor to the Principal Finance Group, a division of Nomura that was created in 1994.

Marc Barber

Raven Connelly

Marc was editor of GrowthBusiness from 2006 to 2010. He specialised in writing about entrepreneurs, private equity and venture capital, mid-market M&A, small caps and high-growth businesses.

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