Speaking at a media conference one month after acquiring music group EMI, Terra Firma's chief executive, Guy Hands, said: “We look for the worst businesses we can find in the most challenged sectors. We get really happy when things are really, really bad. We’re just hoping EMI is as bad as we think it is.” Hands, it seems, got exactly what he wished for.

The £4.5bn buyout, one of Europe's most high-profile boom-time deals, was plagued from the outset. The timing - August 2007 - could not have been worse and the substantial debt of about £2.5bn was held by only one bank and had covenants attached.