US buyout firms have had their busiest week since February 2009 as the booming high-yield debt market has allowed private equity to carry away a bumper haul of large companies.

A trio of deals has helped private equity deals in the US surge to more than $10bn this week, according to data provider Dealogic. This is the highest weekly total since the the second week of February 2009, when there were $14.9bn of worth of deals.