As Tikehau Group continues its ambitious push into the European alternative investment market with the acquisition of a stake in Duke Street, Financial News profiles the little-known French debt specialist, and asks what’s next for Duke Street.

In 2004, Mathieu Chabran and Antoine Flamarion ̶ two former investment bankers at Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs who had previously met during their time at Merrill Lynch ̶ set up Tikehau Capital to invest long-term capital in listed and unlisted stakes in companies, as well as credit and real estate.