The billionaire co-founder of a trading firm and Labour party donor has been revealed as the buyer of Nick Candy’s Chelsea mansion in the most expensive property purchase in history.
Suneil Setiya, the co-founder of Quadrature Capital, reportedly paid more than £275million for Providence House. The deal was reported earlier this month, but the buyer’s identity was not publicly known.
That figure exceeds the $238million (£175 million) that hedge fund manager Ken Griffin paid for a New York penthouse in 2019.
The previous record for the biggest deal in the UK was 2-8a Rutland Gate, which was bought for £210million in 2020 by Hui Ka Yan, the founder of the Chinese property developer Evergrande Group, which was liquidated in 2024.
Quadrature Capital is a successful quantitative investment company based in the Leadenhall Building in the City of London.
The firm’s revenues rose almost fivefold to £1.2billion between 2020 and 2024, and paid out a dividend of £360million to its owners last year.
The firm also became one of the largest donors to the Labour party, donating £4 million to their general election campaign in 2024, citing the “urgent need” to boost the green transition.
Setiya, who co-founded Quadrature in 2010 with business partner Greg Skinner, topped The Sunday Times’ Giving List in 2025 for donating 13.8% of his estimated £980million wealth.
Both Setiya and Skinner are long-time supporters of net zero, with Quadrature having a foundation “dedicated to addressing climate change”.
They said last year: “We are passionate about supporting causes that address poverty, inequality and human suffering.
“Climate change compounds these challenges. This realisation led us to set up the Quadrature Climate Foundation to focus on combating climate change and the systemic injustices that drive climate vulnerability.”
Setiya and Skinner donated £270million through their foundation last year, including seven-figure sums to the Arctic Basecamp, the African Climate Foundation, and the World Wide Fund for Nature.
Assuming that Setiya bought Providence House as his main residence and that he owns more than one property, the stamp duty land tax owed for the purchase is estimated to be a staggering £31.7million.
The mansion in Chelsea, formerly known as Gordon House, was purchased by Nick Candy’s brother Christian in 2012 for about £75million, before ownership was transferred to Nick two years later, according to court filings.
The 19th-century mansion sits on a two-acre plot in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, with views of the River Thames and the biggest garden in central London other than Buckingham Palace.
The Grade II-listed property also boasts a lake and an underground swimming pool, as well as a panic room, while preserving its original Georgian features.
The Candy brothers are the property moguls behind luxury Knightsbridge apartment block One Hyde Park, a magnet for oligarchs, celebrities, and other super-rich buyers.
Nick Candy, formerly a Conservative donor, became the treasure of Reform UK in 2025. He has spearheaded their fundraising efforts, and was present at a meeting between Reform leader Nigel Farage and Elon Musk at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in December.
He lived at Providence House with his wife, the Australian actress and singer Holly Valance, before they announced their divorce last year.
Another of Candy’s properties, his One Hyde Park penthouse, is also thought to be on the market.
The five-bedroom, eight-bathroom duplex penthouse features “uninterrupted views over Hyde Park”, wraparound terraces and Jacuzzi-style jet pools, according to its listing, with an asking price of £175 million.
