£20m windfall for financiers

THE families of the founders of city risk management specialist Barrie & Hibbert are sharing a £20 million windfall after the business was sold to an American credit ratings agency.

Moody’s has bought the firm for £50m, giving a bumper return on the risk taken by founders John Hibbert and Andrew Barrie when they set up the company in 1995, it was reported today.

Goldman Sachs will collect around £12.5m from the sale after it took a stake in 2006. And around 50 staff shareholders will get around £333,000 each. The firm has around 110 employees.