Guy Hands, founder of private equity firm Terra Firma, on Thursday admitted that if the May 2007 auction of music group EMI had happened two weeks later, he would not have bought the company. The remarks, made at a New York conference, are the closest Hands has come to admitting he regrets the £4bn deal that tied up a third of the capital in his two latest funds. Hands refused to comment on talks with Citigroup, which has an exposure of £2.6bn to EMI, although he is believed to be pressing for a deal in which Terra Firma would put £300m more equity into EMI, while Citi would make concessions on the debt.
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