Guy Hands (born 1959) is a British financier and investor. He is the founder and CEO of the private equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners, which he founded in 2002. Hands is also the chairman of record label EMI, which Terra Firma acquired in 2007.[1][2]
Career summary
Hands started his career as a bond trader at Goldman Sachs in the early 1980s. He left for Nomura in 1994 and made a fortune as Managing Director of its Principal Finance Group, with the purchase of a chain of UK pubs.[2]
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. Terra Firma debuted with a $2.7 billion private equity fund immediately making it one of the larger private equity firms in Europe.[3]
Terra Firma has bought a acquired a property portfolio in the UK and Germany (where they are the country's biggest landlord), ex UK Ministry of Defence residential housing and motorway service stations. It is also the largest owner of cinemas in Europe, having taken control of the United Cinemas International and Odeon Cinemas chains. Other acquisitions include the waste water company Waste Recycling Group.
He has faced controversy over his management of EMI, where he suggested that there should be fewer A&R men, and planned to cut thousands of jobs to improve efficiency.[4] Robbie Williams refused to release his new album on the label in protest. Other artists voiced similar concerns.
Hands was educated at Ravenscroft School, Beckington, The Judd School, Tonbridge, and Mansfield College, Oxford.[2]
Personal
Hands and his wife Julia also own the Hand Picked Hotels chain of 14 country-house properties, which is run by Julia Hands.
Guy and Julia Hands were estimated to be worth £250 million in the Sunday Times Rich List of 2008. Previously in the Sunday Times Rich List 2005 they had been estimated to be worth £175 million, placing them at position 281 in the list of the richest people in the United Kingdom.
Hands' friends include William Hague, who was best man at his wedding, while his house in Kent, England was once presented to Winston Churchill.
Honours and appointments
Trivia
See also
External links
References
- ^ Arango, Tim. "EMI’s New Boss Sees Cracks in Music World." New York Times, June 16, 2008.
- ^ a b c d Kennedy, Siobhan, Business big shot: Guy Hands dated July 30, 2007, online at timesonline.co.uk
- ^ COWELL, ALAN. "World Business Briefing | Europe: Britain: Nomura Investor To Open Fund." New York Times, November 10, 2001
- ^ EMI Must Dump Artists to Survive
|
