Trading firm boss revealed as buyer of Nick Candy’s £275mn London mansion
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The billionaire co-founder of a publicity-shy trading firm, which donated £4mn to the UK Labour Party, has bought Nick Candy’s Chelsea mansion in one of the world’s most expensive house purchases.
Suneil Setiya, of Quadrature Capital, paid more than £275mn for Providence House, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal was reported earlier this month, but the buyer’s identity was not publicly known.
The purchase price exceeds the $238mn that hedge fund founder Ken Griffin paid in 2019 for a New York penthouse, at the time the US’s most expensive home.
A spokesperson for Quadrature Capital said Setiya did not comment on personal matters. Candy, who is treasurer of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, was not immediately available for comment.
Setiya’s quantitative trading firm became one of the largest donors to Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party before the 2024 general election. It described its £4mn donation, the largest donation that Labour has ever received, as a move to boost the “urgently needed” green transition.
The firm, which also has a foundation “dedicated to addressing climate change”, paid out a dividend of £360mn to its owners last year.
The Chelsea mansion, formerly called Gordon House, was purchased by Nick’s brother Christian Candy in 2012 for about £75mn. He transferred the ownership to Nick two years later, according to court filings.
The mansion has a private cinema with a “Candy bar” pick ’n’ mix, an underground swimming pool and orangery, as well as a panic room, visitors have said.
The Grade II-listed property is located in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. It had “never been marketed for sale”, said one agent, meaning prospective buyers had approached Candy.
Candy’s spokesperson confirmed last year that he and his wife Holly Valance were in the process of divorcing. Valance and Candy are both directors of Providence House LLP, which has owned the house. Nick Candy is listed as the sole beneficial owner of the company.
The Candy brothers were principal figures behind luxury Knightsbridge apartment block One Hyde Park, which has been a magnet for oligarchs, pop stars and other super-rich buyers.
A former donor to the Conservatives, Nick Candy last year took up a senior post in Nigel Farage’s Reform party, promising to transform its finances.
He has spearheaded fundraising dinners that have attracted former Conservative donors, and was present at a December meeting at US President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida between Farage and entrepreneur Elon Musk.
Another property owned by Candy, which was first put on the market a number of years ago, has an asking price of £175mn. The five-bedroom, eight-bathroom duplex penthouse in One Hyde Park features “uninterrupted views over Hyde Park”, wraparound terraces and Jacuzzi-style jet pools, according to its listing.
Setiya co-founded Quadrature in 2010 alongside Greg Skinner. Both men previously worked at DE Shaw and quant research firm G-Research.
Quadrature’s revenues rose almost fivefold to £1.2bn between 2020 and 2024.
Additional reporting by Costas Mourselas
