Jonathan Russell, head of 3i's European buy-out business, is in a good mood. The rising tide of activity has lifted the fortunes of many buy-out houses. Even so, an exceptionally strong series of realisations has silenced even the harshest critics of 3i's investment model.

Russell has some impressive numbers to present to investors. The group's 80-strong pan-European buy-out team deployed €842m ($1.1bn) in 20 mid-market European deals and generated €1.3bn from 20 realisations last year.