3i, the UK listed private equity firm, has sealed its biggest deal in continental Europe to date with the acquisition of Dockwise Transport from Dutch offshore services group Heerema.

The deal is valued at more than $700m (€528m) and follows the firm's record-breaking acquisition of Countrywide, a UK-based estate agent group, in October last year, which at more than £900m (€1.3bn) was comfortably the group's biggest buyout.