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Birmingham Post
Birmingham Post
Business
Jon Robinson

Meet Nick Candy - the property tycoon mulling £1.4bn THG takeover who was dragged into Partygate scandal

Last month it was revealed that property tycoon Nick Candy was weighing up whether to make an offer to buy THG in a deal worth £1.4bn.

The proposed move by Mr Candy, who is married to former Neighbours actor Holly Vallance, was announced on the same day as a £2.07bn takeover bid from two investment companies was rejected by the Manchester-headquartered group.

Belerion Capital and King Street Capital, as well as Mr Candy's Candy Ventures, have until Thursday, June 16, to make a formal bid or walk away.

READ MORE: THG board 'unanimously rejects' £2bn bid as property tycoon Nick Candy mulls £1.4bn offer

Ahead of the expected announcements later this week, BusinessLive profiles Mr Candy who also recently hit the headlines after being linked with a bid to by Chelsea FC.

Nick Candy was born in January 1973 in London. He, alongside his brother Christian, was educated at Priory Preparatory School and later Epsom Collage in Surrey. He then went on to graduate from the University of Reading.

Using a £5,000 loan from their grandmother, the brothers acquired their first property, a one-bedroom flat in Redcliffe Square, Earl's Court.

They later sold it for £172,000 after renovating the flat while living there.

The brothers have since gone on to develop properties including London’s One Hyde Park and NoHo Square, while they oversaw the redevelopment of the former Chelsea Barracks.

They established Candy & Candy in 1999 after Nick left his position in advertising at J. Walter Thompson and Christian gave up his role at investment bank Merrill Lynch.

Nick served as the company's chief executive while the business was renamed Candy Property in 2018 to show his sold ownership of the firm.

Through his private investment fund Candy Ventures, Nick diversified his interests outside of real estate and developed a portfolio of global investments.

The firm, alongside Qualcomm Ventures, was reported to have led a $37m funding round for an augmented reality and computer vision company in 2018.

Candy Ventures also acquired the intellectual property assets of augmented reality start-up Blippar in January 2019.

Other notable investments made by Candy Ventures include UK fashion house Ralph & Russo and data processing company Hanzo Archives.

In March 2022, Mr Candy confirmed he was planning a consortium bid to take over Chelsea Football Club after owner Roman Abramovich put the club up for sale following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

However, it was reported later that month that the bid had failed.

Nick also owns a 14.8% stake in podcast platform Audioboom, which was the subject of offers last month as Amazon and Spotify considered takeovers that would have netted him a cool £50m in return for his share of the company.

In his personal life, Mr Candy married former Neighbours star Holly Valance in September 2012.

The couple had their first child in November 2013 and their second in September 2017.

In December 2021, the Daily Mirror published a picture of a "raucous" Christmas party thrown by Tory aides during coronavirus restrictions last Christmas, featuring Mr Candy.

It showed 24 people crowded together in a medium-sized room in the party’s Westminster HQ.

The image also shows several guests Mr Candy raising glasses of wine while a catered buffet features prominently.

At the time, a spokesperson for Mr Candy said: "Nick Candy attended the office of the Shaun Bailey campaign for an end of year review on 14 December 2021.

"He gave a short thank you speech to the team and spent some time with Shaun Bailey to discuss campaign matters before leaving shortly afterwards."

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