An oil and gas services company owned by a US buy-out firm on Monday admitted it sought to bribe officials connected to several nationally owned oil companies to improve sales of its software, including Kazakhstan’s KazMunaiGas and subsidiaries of China’s CNOOC.

Paradigm BV, a private software maker owned by Fox Paine, a US private equity firm, agreed to pay a $1m penalty and retain outside compliance counsel as part of an agreement with the Department of Justice over improper payments to government officials in China, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Mexico and Nigeria.