Buyout firm IK Investment Partners has been forced to give up its stake in a portfolio company that breached its loan obligations, as falling revenues in the recession make it difficult for private-equity owned companies to keep up with loan repayments.

IK, formerly known as Industri Kapital, had injected Nkr200m (€22.5m) into Norwegian retailer Kid Interiør to strengthen its financial position in but has now lost this equity to the company's lending bank DnB Nor, according to statement from the private equity group last week.