| Guy Hands | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 27, 1959 Tonbridge, Kent, United Kingdom |
| Nationality | United Kingdom (now resides in Guernsey for tax reasons) |
| Education | Mansfield College, Oxford Ravenscroft Preparatory School The Judd School |
| Occupation | Private equity investor |
| Employer | Terra Firma (2002- ) Nomura Securities (1994-2002) Goldman Sachs (1982-1994) |
| Known for | Founder of Terra Firma Capital Partners, Founder of Nomura Principal Finance Group |
Guy Hands (August 27, 1959)[1] is an English financier and investor. He is most notable as the founder and chairman of Terra Firma Capital Partners, one of the largest private equity firms in Europe. Hands also previously served as Chairman of the U.K. music company, EMI.
Hands was estimated to be worth £250 million in the Sunday Times Rich List of 2008, placing them at position 281 in the list of the richest people in the United Kingdom. However, Hands' net worth has likely decreased since that time with the failure of Hands' investment in EMI. Hands is also well-known in the U.K. for his decision to move his residency to Guernsey as a protest against high taxes in the U.K.[2]
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Guy Hands was born August 27, 1959 in Tonbridge, Kent, to Christopher and Sally Hands.[1] He was educated at Ravenscroft Preparatory School, where he was diagnosed as severely dyslexic;[1] and The Judd Grammar School, Tonbridge.[3] More recently Hands contributed the funds for the constructuion of the Guy Hands Library at the Judd School. In a Ravenscroft production of Macbeth in 1970, he played the part of Lady Macbeth opposite Christopher Newbury as Macbeth.[3]
Hands studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Mansfield College, Oxford,[4]. At Oxford, Hands held the office of Bursar of the Oxford Union and was also President of Oxford University Conservative Association in Michaelmas Term 1980.[3] Hands also provided funding for construction of the Hands Building at Mansfield College, Oxford.
Hands started his career in 1982 as a eurobond trader at Goldman Sachs and later rose to become head of global asset structuring for Goldman's European division.[1] In 1994, Hands left Goldman to found Nomura's Principal Finance Group, which focused on European private equity investments. Hands joined Nomura after three other banks, including Goldman, turned down his investment plan.[5] At Nomura, Hands and his team completed over $20 billion of leveraged buyouts. By 2000, Hands was reported to have generated profits for the bank in excess of $1.9 billion making him a star financier in London.[6][7][8] Hands' most notable acquisitions at Nomura included Le Méridien, the hotel chain as well as William Hill, the U.K. bookmaker, and Angel Trains, the U.K. Rolling Stock Operating Company[9] As well, Hands effectively became the U.K.'s biggest pub landlord through a series of acquisitions in the 1990s.[3]
In 2002, Hands founded Terra Firma Capital Partners, as a spinout from Nomura, which he had built into one of the largest private equity investors in Europe.[10][11] Terra Firma debuted with a €2 billion private equity fund, immediately making the young firm one of the larger private equity players in Europe.[12]
The firm's early investments, while still a division of Nomura, focused on housing (Annington Homes), leasing companies and pubs. Since 2002, the firm has made major investments in the waste management (Waste Recycling Group), energy (BGCL, East Surrey Holdings, Phoenix Natural Gas, and Infinis), aircraft leasing (AWAS), cinema (Odeon Cinemas/UCI) and music sectors (EMI). TFCP has also made significant investments in German residential housing (Deutsche Annington) and motorway services (Tank & Rast).
Today, however, Hands and Terra Firma are best known for the failed investment in British music company EMI, which was later taken over by Citigroup, the main lender in the investment, after Terra Firma was unable to keep up interest payments on its loans.[13] Citigroup took ownership of EMI Group from Terra Firma on February 1, 2011, wiping out the firm's investments and writing off £2.2 billion of debt.[14][15] Terra Firma was reported to have lost $2.5 billion in the EMI transaction, representing roughly one-third of Terra Firma's investor's capital as well as more than 60% of Hands' personal net worth.[16][17] Hands had spent much of 2010 engaged in litigation with Citigroup, claiming the bank engaged in fraud during its auction of EMI in 2007.[18] The lawsuit went to trial in New York in late 2010[19] and resulted in a jury finding in favor of Citigroup and against Terra Firma and Guy Hands.[16] Hands acknowledged that the EMI deal had been a mistake when he said, “If we hadn’t done that, we’d have 90% of our funds still to invest and we’d look like complete geniuses. Instead, having written off well over a billion, we look like chumps.” [20][21]
While at university, he became friends with William Hague, who was later best man at his wedding, in 1984, to Julia Caroline Ablethorpe.[1] The couple have two sons and two daughters.[1] His house in Kent, just outside Sevenoaks, was once presented to Winston Churchill, while his estate in Tuscany produces wine and olive oil.[1]
Hands and his wife own the Hand Picked Hotels chain of 17 country-house properties, which is run by Julia Hands. The couple were estimated to be worth £250 million in the Sunday Times Rich List of 2008, placing them at position 281 in the list of the richest people in the United Kingdom. Their net worth has likely decreased since that time with the failure of Hands' investment in EMI.
In April 2009, in protest at the UK tax system, Hands moved to Guernsey. Since then, he has not been to the U.K. and his family travel to Guernsey to see him.[2] Recently having a court trial against Citi Group on the EMI deal he avoided London but chose New-York . "Hands, who became a tax exile in Guernsey last year, told the court that he did not want to jeopardise his tax status if the trial were heard in London."[22]
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