There was a time when Candover was one of the biggest operators in the private equity sector. Quoted vehicles, such as 3i, offer investors the sort of high returns that are available to private equity, which tends to be limited to wealthy individuals who can afford to take large stakes in often unproven investments.
Candover made some bad decisions — an investment in Gala Coral was among the worst — and decided in 2010 to wind itself up and hand the proceeds to shareholders. It has been a long, drawn-out process because finding exits for such investments is not always easy and patience tends to provide the best prices, but that work is nearing its end and offers some interesting possibilities for those investors.
Candover