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The entrepreneurs who got out at the top of the market
Luck or judgment? Before the UK went from boom to recession, a select group of entrepreneurs cashed out through perfectly timed deals. In a series of articles and an accompanying video interview, the Financial Times looks at three of these ”smart sellers”:
• Mike Danson, founder of Datamonitor
• Sir Keith Mills, creator of the Nectar loyalty card
• Jon Hunt, the estate agent behind Foxtons
What made them sell when they did? And how have they invested the proceeds of these prescient disposals?
Video
Related content and features
Three Smart Sellers
Mike Danson, Datamonitor
The former consultant banked more than £200m from selling shares in the market researcher
Sir Keith Mills, Nectar
The loyalty card pioneer and Olympics boss is battling to avoid losing part of his £160m disposal proceeds
Jon Hunt, Foxtons
Jon Hunt, the Foxtons founder who picked the top of the housing boom in 2007 as the time to sell his estate agency
Perfect Exits: Archive
Datamonitor accepts £513m bid
The high current valuations of business publishers were underlined when Informa, the information and events group, made a recommended £513m cash offer on Monday for Datamonitor, its smaller rival
Nectar chief nets £161m from loyalty card sale
The UK Nectar loyalty card scheme founder will pocket £161m ($332m) from selling its operating company to Aeroplan Income Fund, its Canadian rival
Hunt to reap reward of Foxtons sell-off
Jon Hunt, the founder of Foxtons, London's biggest estate agency, will bank the lion's share in an estimated £400m deal with BC Partners, the private equity firm
BC Partners admits Foxtons mistake
Press conference was organised to highlight changes to its investment portfolio and its new strategy during the recession, adding that it was in ‘good shape’
