Duke Street Capital has been forced by the UK’s Pensions Regulator to call in about £8m (€10m) from investors to cut the pensions deficit of a business it sold more than a year ago. The move could discourage some private equity firms from buying companies with defined benefit schemes.

UK mid-market buyout firm Duke Street was targeted by the regulator following the sale of Focus DIY in June 2007 to a company owned by US alternative asset manager Cerberus Capital Management.