A string of high profile names have rushed to sell up to beat the near doubling in capital gains taxes on business assets, from 10% to 18%, which went live this weekend.
Nursery chain Kidsunlimited, shoe retailer L K Bennett, tobacco wholesaler Palmer & Harvey and insurance tycoon Peter Cullum were among those who scrambled to beat the new rules.
Husband and wife Stewart and Jean Pickering, sold their entire stake in Kidsunlimited, as did their backer, Isis Equity to Lloyds Development Capital.
1,500 employees at Palmer & Harvey celebrated a £300m buyout of their business.
Peter Cullum speeded up the sale of a £100m stake in his insurance firm Towergate to US hedge fund Och-Ziff, and fashion entrepreneur Linda Bennett is currently in talks to find a buyer for her shoe chain, thought to be worth up to £150m.
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