Buyout firm Permira has enjoyed an impressive start to 2012, according to its biggest investor SVG Capital, which has just published the latest set of encouraging figures from the UK's private equity sector.

Nine of the 10 biggest investments at UK-listed fund-of-funds SVG Capital were written up in the first quarter, according to the firm's results for the period. All of these investments belong to Permira, the firm in which SVG invests almost all of its money.