The retailer said the shares had been placed at 80p, a 13.3 per cent discount to the closing price on 3 June. Rob Templeman, the chief executive of Debenhams, said: "It removes leverage from the agenda and it will enable people to focus on our operating performance not the balance sheet performance." The private equity firms CVC and TPG, which held 9 per cent and 12 per cent of Debenhams' shares respectively, did not participate in the fundraising and both resigned from the board. CVC also sold 51 million shares at the issue price of 80p, reducing its shareholding to 33.5 million. Debenhams' shares closed down 2 per cent at 90p.