Malmaison could soon be in new hands

A PRIVATE equity firm headed by the former record label EMI boss Guy Hands is a frontrunner to acquire the Malmaison group.

Terra Firma Capital Partners, Hands’ private equity firm is reported by Sky News to be one of the last remaining bidders for the hotel and restaurant group.

KSL Capital Partners acquired Malmaison Group, which includes luxury brand Hotel du Vin and employs 3,000 people, in 2012 and put the business up for auction with investment bank UBS in January.

If Terra Firma is successful in its bid for the £350m company, it will put Hands in competition with his wife Julia Hands who owns the Hand Picked Hotels group.

Malmaison – which has two hotels in central Birmingham – would be added to the group’s portfolio which includes healthcare group Four Seasons, Wyevale Garden Centres and Odeon cinemas.

The rival bidders include TDR Capital, the private equity group which owns David Lloyd Leisure.