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Guy Hands (born 27 August 1959)<ref name=GuardDys/> is an English financier and investor. He is most notable as the founder and former chairman of Terra Firma Capital Partners, one of the largest private equity firms in Europe.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Hands also was chairman of the UK music company EMI.Template:Cn

Hands is well known for his frequently outspoken comments about the private equity industry.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Private equity is being forced to face new reality. City A.M. 9 December 2011</ref> In April 2009, he moved from the UK to Guernsey where Terra Firma is based.

BiographyEdit

Hands was born in London, to South African parents, who had lived in Southern Rhodesia.<ref name=GuardDys/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As a small boy he attended Holy Trinity School, Cookham, where he was diagnosed as severely dyslexic.<ref name=GuardDys>Template:Cite news</ref> At the age of nine, he was sent to Ravenscroft, a prep school which had a specialist class for dyslexics,<ref name=times1>Kennedy, Siobhan, Business big shot: Guy Hands dated 30 July 2007, online at timesonline.co.uk</ref> and in a Ravenscroft production of Macbeth in 1970 he played the part of Lady Macbeth opposite Christopher Newbury as Macbeth.<ref name=times1/> From there, he went on to The Judd School, at Tonbridge,<ref name=times1/> where there is now a Guy Hands Library.<ref name=TTW>Garden centre for sale to those with a handy £5 million, Times of Tunbridge Wells, 13 June 2018, accessed 8 February 2023</ref>

Hands studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Mansfield College, Oxford.<ref>Guy Hands Profile. Terra Firma Capital Partners website</ref> While there, he held the office of Bursar of the Oxford Union and was also President of the Oxford University Conservative Association in Michaelmas Term 1980.<ref name=times1/> Hands later provided funding for construction of the Hands Building at Mansfield College.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Early careerEdit

Before arriving at Oxford, Hands started a business selling pictures. Once he was there, it became known as 'Artsake' and employed a number of his fellow students.<ref name=GuardDys/>

Hands started his City career in 1982 as a eurobond trader at Goldman Sachs. He was appointed Head of Eurobond trading in 1986 and later rose to become head of global asset structuring world-wide for Goldman's European division in 1990.<ref name=GuardDys/> 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.<ref name=nomuraexit>Hands edges toward Nomura exit door. The Daily Telegraph. 7 May 2001</ref> 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.<ref>Guy Hands. Financial News, 14 June 2000</ref><ref>The Man Who Loves Disasters. Business Week, 5 June 2000</ref><ref>Nomura's guy hands: Dealmaker extraordinaire. Global Finance, November 2001</ref> Hands' most notable acquisitions at Nomura included Annington Homes, as well as William Hill, the bookmaker, and Angel Trains, the UK rolling stock company.<ref name=debut>UK Terra Firma to seal debut deal Template:Webarchive. AltAssets, 9 June 2003</ref> As well, Hands effectively became the UK's biggest pub landlord through a series of acquisitions in the 1990s.<ref name=times1/> In 1996, Hands played a central role in the sale of the Ministry of Defence's 57,400 homes for military personnel and their families to Annington Homes, which had been established earlier that year as a shell company by Nomura, making Annington the largest owner of residential property in England and Wales.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Terra FirmaEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} 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.<ref>Hands seen dropping plans for major bank role in new fund Template:Webarchive. AltAssets, 30 July 2001</ref><ref>COWELL, ALAN. "World Business Briefing | Europe: Britain: Nomura Investor To Open Fund." New York Times, 10 November 2001</ref> Terra Firma debuted with a €2 billion private equity fund, immediately making it one of the larger private equity investors in Europe.<ref>Guy Hands’ Terra Firma holds first close on debut independent fund Template:Webarchive. AltAssets, 1 November 2002</ref>

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), 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).

Terra Firma is now also one of the world's leading private equity investors in renewable energy.<ref>Bloomberg New Energy Finance Report. Bloomberg, 2011</ref><ref>Bloomberg New Energy Finance Names Top Clean Energy Investors. Bloomberg.com, 2010</ref> Its investments include the UK-based green energy business (Infinis), a US wind energy business (EverPower) and an Italian solar energy business (RTR).

Hands and Terra Firma are also known for the failed investment in British music company EMI, which was later taken over by Citigroup, the main lender in the investment.<ref>Joshua R. Wueller, Mergers of Majors: Applying the Failing Firm Doctrine in the Recorded Music Industry, 7 Brook. J. Corp. Fin. & Com. L. 589, 597–604 (2013) (describing Terra Firma's purchase of EMI, Citigroup's seizure of the company, and the subsequent breakup, sale, and antitrust scrutiny surrounding the music company).</ref> Citigroup took ownership of EMI Group from Terra Firma on 1 February 2011, wiping out the firm's investments and writing off £2.2 billion of debt.<ref>Citigroup wrestles EMI from Guy Hands' grasp, The Guardian 1 February 2011</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Despite implementing an operational turnaround,<ref>Give Guy credit for EMI's Brits success Template:Webarchive. London Evening Standard. 18 February 2011</ref><ref>EMI Annual review 2009/2010 Template:Webarchive. EMI Music 2009/2010</ref> 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.<ref>Guy Hands on life after EMI. Business Monitor, 10 March 2011</ref><ref name=emipostmortem>Template:Cite news</ref> Hands had spent much of 2010 engaged in litigation with Citigroup, claiming the bank engaged in fraud during its auction of EMI in 2007.<ref>Michael J. de la Merced.Suit Accuses Citigroup of Fraud in EMI Deal. New York Times, 11 December 2009</ref> The lawsuit went to trial in New York in late 2010<ref>Financier And Banker To Face Off On EMI Sale. New York Times, 14 October 2010</ref> and resulted in a jury finding in favour of Citigroup. This verdict was however overturned in May 2013, after a US federal appeals court found that the American trial judge, Jed Rakoff, had incorrectly instructed the jury on a point of English law.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

A new, judge-led trial was heard by Mr Justice Burton in London in June 2016. After two days of evidence, during which Hands admitted on more than one occasion that he didn't have 'that memory anymore', lawyers for Terra Firma withdrew the case with all costs to be borne by Terra Firma. Burton said: "I’m sure this is the right result". Citi said: "We have always maintained that the allegations made by Terra Firma were entirely baseless." Hands said the claims had been brought in good faith, but that documentation and memories of these events after nine years was no longer sufficient to meet the high demands of proof required, and that the matter is now closed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In August 2023, it was announced that Hands was retiring from Terra Firma as Chairman and Chief Investment Officer in order to meet his long-term goal of retiring by his 64th birthday, as per the Beatles song. Hands remains involved in the Terra Firma portfolio businesses that are Hands family investments.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2024, the Financial Times reported that a number of Terra Firma employees, over the period 2002–2023, accused Hands of humiliating staff, raging at staff, and repeatedly telling sexually explicit stories at work.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref>

Other businessesEdit

Hands and his wife own Hand Picked Hotels, a chain of 21 English country house properties, which is run by Julia Hands.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2017, Guy and Julia Hands agreed to acquire McDonald's Nordic operations. The Nordic countries consisted of approximately 435 restaurants, 95% of which are franchised. The deal would see Hands become the developmental licensee and master franchiser for McDonald's in the region.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In December 2020, Hands took a stake in ROXi, as part of a £13 million fundraiser led by Sun Capital Partners, a company managed by Hugh Osmond, the former owner of PizzaExpress and Center Parcs. ROXi had been founded by Rob Lewis in 2014.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal lifeEdit

While at Oxford, Hands became a friend of William Hague, who in 1984 was best man at his wedding to Julia Caroline Ablethorpe. The couple have two sons and two daughters.<ref name=GuardDys/> His wife's house in Kent, just outside Sevenoaks, was once presented to Winston Churchill, while their estate in Tuscany, Villa Saletta, produces wine and olive oil.<ref name=GuardDys/> The estate's wines have won numerous international awards.<ref>Wine Details: Borgo Saletta - IGT Rosso Toscana 2006 Template:Webarchive. International Wine and Spirit Competition 2006</ref><ref>Saletta wine description Template:Webarchive. Villa Saletta website</ref>

In April 2009, in protest at high British taxes, Hands moved to Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It was reported in February 2010 that since then he had not visited the United Kingdom, and that members of his family were travelling to Guernsey to see him.<ref name=taxprotest>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2014, the writer Malcolm Gladwell called the move to Guernsey an "incredibly interesting pathology", viewing departure into tax exile as a significant reverse for Hands to set against the benefits of being immensely wealthy.<ref>Foley, Stephen (19 September 2014) Running with the FT: Malcolm Gladwell FT.com</ref>

In May 2019, Hands admitted to The Sunday Times that he had a food addiction to roast potatoes and gravy and that he had sought treatment from hypnosis to combat it.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2021, Hands published ‘The Dealmaker: Lessons from a Life in Private Equity’, a personal account of his experiences from childhood to dealmaking. The Times labelled it as ‘the only book about private equity to read like a thriller’.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Hands has been increasingly vocal about the risks associated with climate change continuing and the huge difficulties and costs involved in stopping it.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

PhilanthropyEdit

Hands and his wife have donated millions of pounds to Mansfield College, Oxford since 1995.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Mansfield hosts an annual Hands Lecture series.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Since 2014, the Hands family has donated £2.2 million towards Mansfield's Love Lane building, which will house the University's new Institute of Human Rights.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Hands was named the 2018 Philanthropist of The Year at the annual Spear's Wealth Management Awards for his contributions to a number of charities.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Honours and appointmentsEdit

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

  • Guy Hands. Terra Firma Capital Partners website
  • Guy Hands Blog. Guy Hands Blog Terra Firma Capital Partners website