Permira on Tuesday secured the biggest profit for its investors since the credit crunch by selling Jet Aviation, the Swiss aircraft services group, to General Dynamics of the US for SFr2.45bn (£5bn, $2.24bn).

The deal earned an impressive return on the private equity group's investment, said SVG Capital, Permira's biggest investor. The sale of Jet Aviation gave SVG a return of £84.2m ($156.9m), against an initial cost of £21.8m.