• Advent sells 12.1% stake in DFS 
  • Sales raises £61.7m for Advent
  • Advent sold a 14.1% stake in April

Private equity group Advent International has sold half its stake in furniture retailer DFS for £61.7m, cutting its holding to 12.1%.

The US private equity company was originally the largest stakeholder of DFS, holding a majority share of more than 50% as recently as October last year.

It is the third time it has cut its stake, having also sold 14.1% of its stake for £90m in April.

The sofa specialist posted a 7% increase in full-year sales at its year-end in August.

Comfortable after Brexit vote

It was thought that big ticket retailers would be adversely affected by the Brexit vote but DFS said it had seen no slowdown in demand.

Boss Ian Filby added that the business was “very well positioned to mitigate economic headwinds” following the vote.

He attributed DFS’ growth to store expansion in the UK and overseas, development of its omnichannel proposition and continued enhancement of product range.

Growth was also bolstered by its Sofa Workshop and Dwell subsidiaries.

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