Building supplies group Galiform has agreed to pay Merchant Equity Partners £8 million in settlement of a dispute arising from the sale of MFI’s retail business to the private equity firm.

The sum – a full and final out-of-court settlement – is a fraction of the£57 million that Merchant Equity had demanded.

Galiform chief executive Matthew Ingle said: “Not only does this demonstrate the strength of our case, it avoids a long, expensive and distracting process, provides closure on this issue and is well within the provision we made.”