Guy Hands, the enfant terrible of European private equity, on Wednesday described bankers such as those who funded his recent €10bn (£7.1bn) spending spree as a pack of “whimpering dogs”, warning they would refuse to bankroll “mega buy-outs” for years.

Mr Hands, a former banker at Goldman Sachs and Nomura, said bankers were happy “in a pack” and liked “to smell easy prey and push each other out of the way for food”. But, he went on, “like any loyal dogs, when they get hit, they whimper”.