Guy Hands, one of Britain’s most prominent financiers, is to step down as the boss of Terra Firma Capital Partners, the buyout firm he set up more than 20 years ago.

Sky News can reveal that Mr Hands, whose business empire has spanned sectors from recorded music to care homes, told stakeholders on Friday that he would be retiring as Terra Firma’s chairman and chief investment officer next month.

His decision marks one of the most significant departures to date of a pioneering figure in the British private equity industry.

An outspoken and at times controversial figure, Mr Hands became known as a financial genius whose knack for making investors money occasionally deserted him in spectacular fashion.

He set up Terra Firma in 2002, and through it acquired companies including the record label EMI and the care homes operator Four Seasons Health Care.

More recently, his investments have been made through the Hands family office, with Terra Firma failing to raise a new buyout fund after EMI was seized from it in acrimonious circumstances.

Mr Hands has been an outspoken critic of Brexit and told Bloomberg News in a recent interview that the outlook for investment in Britain was deteriorating.

He moved offshore to Jersey nearly 15 years ago for tax reasons.

In the note to stakeholders, which has been seen by Sky News, Mr Hands said he would “continue to be involved in the portfolio businesses that are Hands Family Investments, as well as in the legacy fund investment, Annington”.

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Annington, which owns thousands of homes used by the Ministry of Defence, is currently the subject of a bitter legal row between the government and Terra Firma.

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“When I founded Terra Firma over twenty years ago, I vowed that I would retire from the firm ‘when I’m 64’, as per the eponymous Beatles song,” Mr Hands wrote.

“That time has now come as I approach my 64th birthday this August.”

He added: “Terra Firma is poised to do great things in the future, and that is because of you: the dedicated staff and teams who work to keep improving the support you give to me and other investors.”

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Terra Firma’s existing portfolio includes the former housebuilding arm of Kier and Welcome Hotels.

“TF is well placed to continue to do innovative and successful deals for existing and new investors worldwide,” he wrote.

Mr Hands added that his retirement would enable him to devote “much more time to work on the philanthropic projects [wife] Julia and I have built over the years”.

A Terra Firma spokeswoman declined to comment.

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