Buyout boss says Brexit will be good for his business but will mean a 30% cut in UK wages

One of the biggest names in European private equity said that Brexit will be good for his business, but will mean a 30% wage reduction for UK workers.

Terra Firma chairman Guy Hands added that Britain's referendum to leave the European Union (EU) will lead to higher interest rates and increased immigration from other parts of the world.

London-born Hands said foreign investors will raise their lending rates for the UK to compensate for the increased risk of leaving the EU, which in turn will lead to higher British interest rates.

"That will lead to bankruptcies and that will lead to opportunities," the buyout boss told Bloomberg Television. "So sadly it will probably be bad for the majority of people and bad for the country, but for my business its probably going to be good."

He added that EU immigration will be replaced with workers from the Indian subcontinent and Africa, willing to accept "substantially" lower pay.

Earlier this month Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed she intends to pull the UK out of the European Union's single market as she laid out her plans for Brexit.

May added she would push for the "freest possible trade" with other countries around the world, while assuming control over UK immigration and law-making.

Terra Firma owns several business including Britain's biggest care home group Four Seasons and Wyevale Garden Centres.

However, the Oxford-educated financier's reputation was tarnished after his disastrous £4bn deal to buy music group EMI in 2007 ended four years later when US bank Citi took over the group to recover the loans it lent him.