Guy Hands's private equity group Terra Firma Capital Partners snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in his surprise £227.5m (€341.2m) purchase of Shanks Group's landfill sites because of the "tortoise-like" speed of his bid rival Pennon, the UK water company.

Mike Averillk, Shanks chief executive, told analysts on Wednesday that Pennon, which had been negotiating the deal for a year and was until Sunday favourite to clinch it, had been incredibly risk-averse.