Ince & Co LLP has advised private equity firm Advent International on the acquisition of V.Group, the marine services company, from Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System’s private equity arm (OMERS). Ince & Co worked alongside Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and provided specialist maritime law advice.
V.Group manages over 1,000 vessels out of 70 international offices on behalf of its customers across the commercial shipping, cruise, energy and defence sectors. The value of the transaction was not disclosed. The private equity arm of pension fund OMERS plans to reinvest in V.Group, while the company's management team will retain a minority stake in the maritime firm.

Stephen Jarvis, Ince & Co’s Global Head of Corporate, led the Ince & Co team that advised Advent International. The core Ince & Co team also comprised partners Mona Patel (Corporate); Spencer Gold and Beatrice Russ (Finance); and Faz Peermohamed and Michael Volikas (Shipping). Senior associate Ajay Ahluwalia (Shipping) also advised.

Stephen Jarvis commented:

“Our instruction on this significant matter is illustrative of the progress that we are making in building our transactional capability and experience in our core sectors, which is a key strategic priority for our firm. Due to the short-time frame involved, we were called by Freshfields to provide specialist maritime law advice to Advent. We were able to mobilise a cross-practice team at short notice to assist our client to achieve a successful conclusion to this transaction.”

The Freshfields team advising Advent International was led by corporate partner Adrian Maguire, with finance partners Denise Ryan and Sean Pierce also acting. Weil Gotshal and Manges’ co-head of private equity Marco Compagnoni advised OMERS.