Duke Street Capital has made a partial exit from Focus Wickes, the UK do-it-yourself retail chain with which it made its name 15 years ago.

The £1.05bn (€1.6bn) refinancing deal involves Apax buying a 29% equity stake with £700m of debt provided by ING, Bank of Scotland and, unusually, Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs, which has no commercial banking arm, rarely lends to clients.