[1] In 1994, Hands left Goldman to found Nomura's Principal Finance Group, which focused on European private equity investments.

[12][13][14] Hands' most notable acquisitions at Nomura included Annington Homes, as well as William Hill, the bookmaker, and Angel Trains, the UK rolling stock company.

[16] 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.

TFCP has also made significant investments in German residential housing (Deutsche Annington) and motorway services (Tank & Rast).

[22] 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.

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.

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.

[37][38] 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.

[1] 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.

[43] 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.

[44] 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.

[47] Hands has been increasingly vocal about the risks associated with climate change continuing and the huge difficulties and costs involved in stopping it.

[50] 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.