Blackstone and Lion Capital have sealed one of the biggest private equity exits of the year by agreeing a binding €2.6bn ($3.84bn) deal to sell Orangina Schweppes, the French soft drink maker, to its Japanese rival Suntory.

The deal is welcome news for private equity investors, as the flow of cash back from deals has slowed to a trickle in the last two years, as the credit crunch has caused bank financing to dry up and made initial public offerings much harder.