Ashmore billionaire buys into Midas Capital

Mark Coombs, the billionaire founder of emerging markets fund manager Ashmore, has taken a 5 per cent stake in boutique fund manager Midas Capital, the Liverpool-based firm that manages more than £20m in personal assets for the private equity guru Jon Moulton.

Filings at Companies House reveal that Mr Coombs took his position in Midas last year. He is thought to have bought his shares from the company's chief executive, Simon Edwards.

Latest figures for Midas, which is thought to have been courted by private equity suitors, show the company enjoys assets under management worth in excess of £1.6bn. Its latest set of available accounts for 2006 reveal that the firm posted a pre-tax profit of £1.2m, although recent deals suggest that figure leapt in 2007.

Mr Coombs made his fortune floating Ashmore in 2006. He initially made more than £170m selling a chunk of his holding but retains a position in the business that is believed to be worth more than £700m.