London, 23 April 2010   Quayle Munro Limited is pleased to announce that it has advised global private equity firm Advent International (“Advent”) on its acquisition of DFS, the UK’s market-leading sofa retailer.  Quayle Munro was sole M&A adviser to Advent on the deal .

Richard Baker, former CEO of Alliance Boots, who joined Advent, as an Operating Partner in August 2009 will assume the role of Chairman, taking over from the Founder and current Chairman, Lord Graham Kirkham. 

DFS, based in Doncaster, is the number one brand in the UK sofa market and currently operates from 74 sofa stores across the UK, employing more than 2,600 people.  Under its ownership Advent, which has been investing in the retail, consumer products and leisure sectors since 1984, plans to build on DFS’s strong foundations and evolve the existing business model in order to access more customers through new store rollout, online and brand development. 

The value of the transaction was not disclosed.

For further information: 

Rashmi Sinha /Simon Bullivant, Quayle Munro Limited:   +44 20 7907 4200
John Kiely/Gemma Froggatt, Smithfield PR:                           +44 20 7360 4900

Notes to Editors:

Quayle Munro (www.quaylemunro.com) is an independent corporate finance adviser which was established in 1983.  With 30 professionals in London and Edinburgh, Quayle Munro has advised on over 90 corporate finance transactions in the past five years with a total value in excess of £4 billion. The Quayle Munro retail sector team has broad experience in advising both quoted and unquoted retailers on a wide range of strategic transactions and financings.

Advent International (www.adventinternational.com) founded in 1984, is one of the world’s leading global buyout firms, with offices in 16 countries on four continents.  A driving force in international private equity for 25 years , Advent has built an unparalleled global platform of over 140 investment professionals across Western and Central Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia.  The firm focuses on internal buyouts, strategic repositioning opportunities and growth buyouts in five core sectors, working actively with management teams to drive revenue growth and earnings improvements in portfolio companies.  Since inception, Advent has raised $26 billion in private equity capital and, through its buyout programmes, has completed over 250 transactions valued at approximately $50 billion in 35 countries.