US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice has reduced its shareholding in bargain retailer B&M, selling a 12% stake and raising £384m.

The backer sold 120,000,000 shares at 320p per share, reducing its holding to 17.4%.

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice said strong investor demand lead to it increasing the placement from 100 million shares to 120 million.

B&M Bargains floated on the stock exchange in June last year, setting its offer price at 270p, valuing the discount retailer at £2.7bn.

In its most recent trading update in January, the value chain said UK like-for-like sales increased 4.5% in the 13 weeks to December 27. Group revenue climbed 28.8% to £527.9m in the 13-week period, including sales from its German business Jawoll, which it acquired last April

The Liverpool-based retailer operates 417 stores.

Merrill Lynch International and Deutsche Bank acted as joint bookrunners for the placement.