Business lawyer and former Silversea boss Amerigo Perasso has been appointed as chief executive of Abercrombie & Kent Group.

In recent years he has served as an advisor on mergers and acquisitions to investment funds and private investors.

Before that, he held various roles at Silversea, becoming chief executive at the luxury cruise line.

His appointment follows an investment in the Abercrombie & Kent Group by Heritage Group, whose chairman is Manfredi Lefebvre. He is also Silversea Cruises’ executive chairman.

It was announced in February that Lefebvre acquired a majority stake in the Abercrombie & Kent Group, which was previously owned by Chinese firm Zhonghong Holdings Group and A&K’s founder Geoffrey Kent.

The deal saw Kent increase his stake in A&K to 15%, with the remaining 85% belonging to the Heritage Group, which also owns Lefebvre’s remaining shares in Silverseas Cruises.

Lefebvre will become co-chairman, while Kent will be founder and co-chairman of Abercrombie & Kent.

Kent said: “We will be working together to translate our shared vision for the future into concrete strategies that will allow A&K to reach our goals in the next phase of development, building on seven years of double-digit growth.

“We are pleased to welcome Amerigo Perasso as the new chief executive officer of the Abercrombie & Kent Group.

“He brings substantial operating expertise in luxury leisure travel and cruising to our organisation.”