Private equity tycoon Guy Hands referenced a Beatles song as he informed staff of his decision to leave the buyout firm he founded two decades ago.
The billionaire dealmaker told staff on Friday he would leave the posts of chairman and chief investment officer at Terra Firma Capital Partners in August, drawing to a close a high-profile, chequered career.
Hands, who was at the centre of one of Britain’s most heavily criticised and costly privatisation deals involving military housing and the company Annington, has also been an outspoken critic of Brexit and is best known for his troubled ownership of music label EMI, which lost him €200m (£157m) of his own fortune.
Hands began his career as a Goldman Sachs trainee trader and became one of the pioneers of private equity in Britain, one of the secretive industry’s few recognisable faces.
At Nomura, he spearheaded deals as the trend for leveraged buyouts ramped up in the 1990s, and spun out a unit of the Japanese bank to form Terra Firma in 2002. He has been involved in deals for some of Britain’s best-known chains, including bookmaker William Hill and Odeon cinemas, and McDonald’s restaurant franchises overseas.
The financier, who often cites music references in interviews and communications, chose one of his favourite songs, the Beatles’ When I’m 64 to explain his departure to staff: “When I founded Terra Firma over 20 years ago, I vowed that I would retire from the firm ‘when I’m 64’, as per the eponymous Beatles song,” he wrote in the memo to staff, seen by the Guardian and first reported by SkyNews.
“That time has now come as I approach my 64th birthday this August,” he added, noting that he planned to focus more time on his philanthropic projects with his wife, Julia.
Annington, a company ultimately controlled by Hands, lost its high court case in May this year over the unwinding of a deal, allowing the government to take back 38,000 military homes. Annington said in May that it planned to appeal against the decision.
These were the remainder of the 57,400 properties bought by Annington from the Ministry of Defence in 1996 for £1.7bn. Hands will remain on the board that manages Terra Firma’s investment in Annington and family fund Hands Family Investments, his spokesperson said.
The military housing bargain – which MPs termed “disastrous” – was struck by the then Conservative government and Annington, failed to account for an increase in property values over time.
Hands had been a tax exile in Guernsey since 2009, which has an income tax rate of 20% and no tax on capital gains or inheritance. He has previously said that he is limited to visiting the UK for no more than 90 days a year, in order to remain a non-resident and limit his tax liabilities.
Hands did not enjoy school and recently wrote about his educational experiences in City AM saying he “grew up in the state school system, hated my time and learned little”.
He left Oxford University with a third-class degree, having formed a close friendship with former leader of the Conservative party, William Hague.
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While some gambles had paid off handsomely for Hands, one of Britain’s richest men, others have proven more chequered.
He stood down from the role chief executive at Terra Firma in 2009 after the collapse of music company EMI.
When he gave evidence about the deal for EMI in a related court case he admitted the 2007 takeover of the British music group was a disaster for him and his buyout fund.
In a recent interview with trade publication Management Today, Hands used another music reference to sum up his approach to dealmaking, referencing country musician Kenny Rogers: “His song The Gambler sums it up quite well. You’ve got to know when to hold ’em, when to fold ’em and when to walk away.
“If you focus too much on the money you could make, the deal becomes too attractive and you can end up overpaying when you should be walking away,” Hands said.
Stepping down from Terra Firma will allow Hands to dedicate more time to charity work with Mansfield College, Oxford, which he and his wife have supported for more than 20 years.
