Guy Hands to sell off green energy business

Guy Hands, investor and founder of Terra Firma Capital Partners, has placed Infinis, Britain’s leading green energy generator business, on the market.

The sale is sought as Hands attempts to claw back the funds lost during his failed buyout of record label EMI.

The green energy firm operates gas sites and wind farms, producing seven per cent of the UK’s renewable electricity, and is expected to sell for up to £1.5 billion in an auction. Mr Hands took on the business in 2003 as part of his purchase of Waste Recycling Group in a deal valued at £106 million.

Deutsche Bank, Barclays, RBC Capital Markets and Climate Change Capital, have been hired to arrange the sale and first round bids are expected by mid-August.

Infinis operates about 146 power plants with 400 staff in the UK and the plants work to extract gas from decaying organic matter in landfill sites. It generated sales of £152 million last year with profits of £18 million.

Hands is seeking to repair his reputation after his business Terra Firma bought the EMI label in 2007, only weeks before the start of the credit crunch. It was later taken over by creditors led by Citigroup, building up losses of almost £2 billion for Hands and his investors.

Last week Hands sold Northern Irish business Phoenix Natural Gas to Hastings, the Australia-based infrastructure firm, for around £700 million.

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Related information:
Green energy firm prepares to call in administrator
Acquisition strategy advice

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