Private equity firm Terra Firma confirmed this morning that it has sold the group, which its subsidiary Nomura bought for £225 million seven years ago.

Press reports suggested Terra Firma made a loss on the deal, however this was denied by a spokesman, who said a “slight” profit was made.

Threshers, based in Welwyn Garden City, has about 2,000 shops and 12,000 staff.

Truell founded Duke Street Capital, a private equity firm, in 1988, which has funds of around £1.5 billion.

Last month Terra Firma raised £200 million through a sale and lease-back deal on a portion of the Threshers estate. The off-license chain owns around two thirds of the market, including The Local, Wine Rack, Victoria Wine and Threshers off-licenses as well as Haddows in Scotland.

Terra Firma is a European private equity firm, created in 2002 as the independent successor to the Principal Finance Group, a division of Nomura that was created in 1994.