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The Jersey corporate market has recently witnessed a number of ‘migration transactions‘, involving UK multinationals moving their headquarters and tax residency offshore, usually to the Republic of Ireland, and the insertion of a Jersey holding company at the head of the relevant group.

Bedell Cristin’s Peter Byrne acted as Jersey counsel to private equity house Dunedin in relation to the MBO of Jersey-based Rathbone International. The team - which enjoys an ‘enviable reputation for quality‘ - is active in advising trust companies.

Carey Olsen’s team is co-headed by Nicholas Crocker and Mike Jeffrey, and has been boosted by the appointment of Guy Coltman to the partnership. Coltman and Jeffrey worked on the migration of the Henderson Group. The team - which is ‘strong and its skill set wide-ranging‘ - also worked on the sale of SandpiperCI’s businesses, one of the most significant Channel Islands M&A deals of 2008.

The ‘very knowledgeable‘ lawyers at Mourant du Feu & Jeune are arguably the island’s strongest corporate team. They have handled the bulk of the migration transactions to take place through Jersey recently, including the redomiciliations of Shire plc and WPP plc, Charter International plc and Regus plc; Robert Hickling was the lead partner. Corporate finance partner James Ruane - who is ‘very responsive and reliable‘ - advised Heritage Oil on its LSE listing.

Ogier’s corporate practice ‘would compare favourably with any firm, including Magic Circle‘. Marc Yates is ‘experienced, commercially astute, responsive and a pleasure to work with‘. His team advised Tarsus Group plc on in its migration. Clive Chaplin is also recommended.

Appleby’s Andrew Weaver is a ‘first choice for corporate and funds work in Jersey‘, while Mark Lewis also attracts favourable feedback. Established corporate clients include the SUN Group and Barclays Private Bank and Trust. The team is active in private equity and benefits from the firm’s presence in other offshore centres.

Ozannes’ Jersey office rises in the ranking in recognition of its increasing market presence. Marcus Stone advised a consortium of investors led by Babcock & Brown on the £3.6bn acquisition of Angel Trains from RBS.

Crill Canavan’s ‘very pleasant and responsive‘ team is headed by Geoffrey Crill. It has been advising a global trading company based in Jersey on the restructuring of various worldwide IT companies.

Voisin’s Ian Strang is ‘a senior lawyer with a lot of experience and a great deal of knowledge, who gives the firm substance‘. He heads a growing, ‘excellent‘, and ‘responsive‘ team which has been advising on a US$500m investment by Globe-Gazit Ltd in Meinl Europe Land Ltd, and acting as Jersey advisers to the vendor in the takeover of Rubicon.

With Heather Bestwick taking over as managing partner of Walkers in Jersey, James Gaudin now heads the corporate team. He advised the Level One Group on restructuring and insolvency matters.

BakerPlatt is a litigation boutique with a solid commercial dispute resolution practice.

VerrasLaw is a niche commercial firm, whose corporate partner Hiren Patel (‘very knowledgable, reliable and efficient‘) is qualified in England, Hong Kong and Bermuda. He advised on the restructuring of the Firepower Group and the transfer of its intellectual property, worth over £100m, to the Greenpower Group.

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