Private equity firm Advent Inter­national paid $588m last year to buy one of the world’s shipmanagers, V.Group, recently ­released documents reveal.

The deal, which is thought to be one of the biggest private equity investments yet seen in the shipping services sector, was settled with $429m in cash and $159m in loan notes and new equity.

Advent bought V.Group from Canadian pension fund OMERS Private Equity in March 2017.