Guy Hands, chairman of Terra Firma, said that the private equity industry has benefited from three “get out of jail free cards” since the onset of the financial crisis – but it might not be so lucky next time.

Hands, whose firm looks set to be one of the biggest private equity casualties during the downturn after losing control of its high-profile investment EMI to US lender Citigroup, gave a bearish speech at the SuperReturn conference in Berlin this morning.