Hands to quit and take over Nomura's pubs
Unique Pub Company, Inn Partnership, Voyager Pub Group and other pub companies may pass into the hands of a new private equity firm.
Guy Hands is reportedly planning to quit as managing director of the Principal Finance Group of Japanese bank Nomura, which has stakes in companies owning 6,000 pubs.
Mr Hands is understood to be in talks with investment banks to gain backing for setting up his own private equity fund with an estimated £2bn to spend.
But, according to media reports, Mr Hands wants to take over some of the assets, including the pubs, that he has built up over the past seven years at Nomura. He is also likely to bring many of his 60-strong team with him.
Mr Hands has not commented, but friends are reported to have said that he feels that he has outgrown Nomura and wants to establish his own business. Nomura also has more than £2bn of its capital tied up in the Principal Finance Group and would struggle to find more cash for future deals.
Other investments include the First Quench off-licence group, which owns brands such as Thresher and Victoria Wine. It is also the preferred bidder for Compass Group's Le Meridien hotel chain.
As well as Unique and Inn Partnership, Nomura Principal Finance owns Inntrepreneur Pub Company, Phoenix Inns and a stake in managed house operator Wizard Inns. In March, it bought nearly 1,000 Bass managed houses to create Voyager Pub Group.
According to last month's Rich List in the Sunday Times, Mr Hands is one of the richest men in Britain with an estimated wealth of £120m. He already owns his own hotel company, Hand Picked Hotels.
