Michelle Watson Bunn > Ogier > St Peter Port, Guernsey > Lawyer Profile

Ogier
REDWOOD HOUSE
ST JULIAN'S AVENUE
ST PETER PORT
GY1 1WA
Guernsey

Position

Managing Associate

Career

Michelle is a managing associate in Ogier Guernsey’s Corporate and Funds team. She has extensive experience in a broad range of corporate, commercial, regulatory and investment fund matters and is part of Ogier’s multi-disciplinary Private Equity team. Michelle also advises on mergers, acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures, partnerships, debt and equity transactions, listings, financings and investment and shareholder arrangements. She also specialises in structuring advice and fund formation, capital raising, management, special and carry arrangements, operational and administrative requirements (including with respect to parallel, co-investment, employee participation and advisory vehicles) and ongoing fund operation, including regulatory compliance. Michelle also advises clients in relation to Guernsey economic substance requirements, data protection matters and national risk assessments.

Michelle graduated from the University of Exeter with a BA (Hons) in Philosophy. She completed the Graduate Diploma in Law at London Law School in 2006 followed by the Legal Practice Course in 2007. Michelle was admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales in 2009.

Prior to joining Ogier in 2015, Michelle trained and practised with an international law firm in London where she advised publicly traded companies as well as private companies, in addition to advising company directors, company secretaries and in-house counsel on non-transactional company law issues.

Michelle has extensive experience in a broad range of corporate, commercial, regulatory and investment fund matters and is part of Ogier’s multi-disciplinary Private Equity team. Michelle advises on mergers, acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures, partnerships, debt and equity transactions, listings, financings and investment and shareholder arrangements. She also specialises in structuring advice and fund formation, capital raising, management, special and carry arrangements, operational and administrative requirements (including with respect to parallel, co-investment, employee participation and advisory vehicles) and ongoing fund operation, including regulatory compliance. Michelle also advises clients in relation to Guernsey economic substance requirements, data protection matters and national risk assessments.

Michelle’s achievements in the Private Equity arena include, more recently:

  • advising Stanley Capital with the establishment of a Guernsey investment structure and the acquisition of Noden Pharma DAC and Noden Pharma USA, a leading speciality pharmaceutical company in the cardiovascular space;
  • advising on a joint venture between Tristan Capital Partners’ CCP 5 Long Life core plus Fund and Cording Real Estate Group on the £245 million acquisition of the Holborn Links Estate from Labtech Investments Limited;
  • advising Ogier’s long-standing client, Resonance Asset Management, on the launch of its third Guernsey fund, Resonance British Wind Energy Income II Limited, an authorised closed-ended investment fund designated as a Guernsey Green Fund under the Guernsey Green Fund Rules, 2018; and
  • advising Merian Chrysalis Investment Company Limited on its establishment, £100 million fund raising and ongoing operations as a registered investment scheme.

Education

Admitted in
2009 –  England and Wales

Lawyer Rankings

Guernsey > Corporate and M&A

Ogier‘s ‘totally reliable’ corporate practice group offers an all-encompassing service, covering both local and cross-border M&A, alongside regulatory, private wealth, real estate and competition matters. Contentious insolvency and other court proceedings also fall within the team’s scope. The leadership trio consists of Bryon Rees, who advises on private equity transactions; funds and investment structure specialist Tim Clipstone; and insurance specialist Richard Sharp, who returned to the team from Bedell Cristin in February 2023. Senior associate James Walsh rejoined from the same firm in July 2022. Managing associates Richard Doyle and Michelle Watson Bunn are also noted, as is senior associate James Dickinson.

Guernsey > Capital markets

Ogier‘s capital markets practice advises clients on the gamut of debt and equity raisings, listings on TISE, and structuring issues affecting companies in the run-up to IPOs. Jointly leading the practice are listings specialist Byron Rees, investment vehicle specialist Tim Clipstone, and insurance specialist Richard Sharp, who returned to the team from Bedell Cristin in February 2023. Senior associate James Walsh also rejoined from the same firm in July 2022. Managing associate Michelle Watson Bunn advises on debt and equity transactions, while Diana Collas focuses primarily on listings.

Guernsey > Investment funds

Advising investment funds domiciled in Guernsey and abroad, Ogier‘s team assists with the establishment, structuring and regulation of investment vehicles, including specialised structures such as PCCs, ICCs and unit trusts. In particular, the firm advises private equity and venture capital sponsors on matters concerning open and closed-ended funds. Fund formation and fundraising experts Bryon Rees and Tim Clipstone continue to lead the team, joined in February 2023 by Richard Sharp, who returned from Bedell Cristin. Managing associates Richard Doyle and Michelle Watson Bunn have experience in collective investment schemes and private equity transactions.