Corporate and M&A in Guernsey

‘John Rochester is superb. He is a great manager of clients and always delivers top-notch service and does it fast.’

‘Alana Gillies is a machine on a transaction. It is like having an extra player on your team. Her deal stamina and positive attitude shines through during the slog of a long transaction.’

‘Mourant has a strong corporate practice in Guernsey, and is the firm we tend to call first when we have a financial services matter. I tend to use them for insurance matters, and find that they are well versed on both the law and market practice.’

‘I have worked with John Lewis, Helen Wyatt and Andrew Grant. All are strong corporate lawyers, who have delivered a good service on some complex matters.’

‘Responsive and knowledgeable.’

‘The team has a great blend of technical legal skills and personal skills.’

‘Darren Bacon is both a very strong lawyer technically and highly experienced in the local market.’

‘Alana Gillies has great potential in the industry, she is very engaging with a real entrepreneurial drive and external relationship focus whilst still delivering a great day-to-day legal service.’

‘Tom Carey in Guernsey is extremely able and connected. Very responsive and knowledgeable. One of the top corporate partners in Guernsey with a particular focus on asset management.’

‘Full-service firm that is able to provide timely, concise and commercially sound advice. No task is too small nor too urgent. ’

‘Tom Carey is excellent. Incredibly knowledgeable and willing to work to tight timelines. Tom has a great attention to detail and is able to deliver creative solutions to problems as they arise.’

‘I found the team to be very flexible and helpful on a deal that had quite a few twists and turns. It was a corporate real estate funding so required a lot of different elements that they were able to cover off.’

‘Bryon Rees led the team well. I have recommended him to another client.’

‘Charlotte Brown is very approachable, pragmatic and helpful.’

‘It’s a great team and very responsive. They are always willing to explain and think through creative solutions fitting the individual client.’

‘Bryon Rees is an excellent lawyer who thinks carefully and has great client service.’

‘Ogier are extremely responsive in both answering queries and taking matters forward. They keep in touch well throughout a transaction and we appreciate their high levels of local counsel expertise.’

‘William Schofield has been a great help in transactions throughout the last year. ’

‘They go the extra mile in turning documents around when required and are proactive in helping to get all local documents prepared and delivered and to oversee local signings with trustees in Guernsey.’

‘The Appleby team in Guernsey are very strong and have a huge amount of commerciality behind their approach. Our relationship with Appleby is entirely based on the people involved, and Stuart Tyler very ably leads the team and has many years of experience. He is highly responsive and easily able to resolve issues which can sometimes threaten to derail M&A activity. He is our lawyer of choice for any M&A work where there is any complexity at all. We also find them to be good value for the work that they deliver.’

‘Stuart Tyler is an outstanding individual. We value his resourcefulness, his incredible knowledge base of both Guernsey and UK company law and the pragmatic approach he takes to transactions which reflect a great deal of maturity and skill. We have used Stuart for about a dozen M&A transactions on client entities and he has always succeeded in creating outstanding results for our clients.’

‘A global practice with strong individual practitioners.’

‘Stuart Tyler is a very seasoned advocate at Appleby with a wealth of knowledge and intellect that is at the top of Guernsey.’

‘Every time I have instructed this team, I have received prompt, tailored and good-quality advice. Their fees are well pitched taking account the industry norm and are transparent.’

‘Stuart Tyler is an outstanding lawyer of immense technical ability who combines his exceptional knowledge with intelligent and solution-focused thinking. I find him very user friendly: he thinks carefully about the client and our specific needs and provides solution-orientated advice. It is a pleasure to deal with him.’

‘Stuart Tyler is incredibly knowledgeable, stands head and shoulders over his peers with good considered accurate advice and always works hard to make himself available.’

‘Extremely knowledgeable team in this area of expertise. Effective, responsive. Willing to collaborate.’

‘Richard Sharp is outstanding, both his communication and focus has been excellent, his knowledge and understanding second to none.’

‘Richard Sharp was not only always available to discuss issues, but with an excellent knowledge of the market and our business was able to proactively steer us through to get the right commercial outcome.’

‘The Bedell Cristin team have been excellent in assisting us with corporate finance activity over the last two years. Their involvement has not just been in relation to drafting/reviewing documents but also offering practical solutions to issues. Bedell Cristin have a detailed understanding of the structure of our group which is very helpful in deriving solutions to issues.’

‘The individuals at Bedell Cristin have an excellent understanding of Guernsey law but are also commercially minded, which means that they play a key role in the corporate finance activity of our group.’

‘Kate Ovenden is very approachable, knowledgeable and calm under pressure.’

‘Their in-depth knowledge and experience in the industry and of course corporate law was key in delivering the desired outcome of our project. They provided timely responses and conclusions with good depth of team whilst managing our expectations very well.’

‘Kate Ovenden led from the front supported by equally committed individuals who made it their business to know our business and to guide us through a project.’

‘Simon Heggs is an integral part of the client delivery team and clients rely on him and instruct him directly, which is unusual for offshore counsel.’

‘Collas Crill have shown themselves to be market-leaders in the new and complex medicinal cannabis sector.’

‘We have found the team to be very strong. Simon Heggs, Wayne Atkinson, Gareth Morgan and Paul Wilkes are all available and help lead transactions rather than “cheer from the sidelines” which is something other offshore law firms can sometimes do.’

‘Their team are knowledgeable to, and aware of, ongoing matters that they are conducting and all work is carried out to a very high standard. Billing and delivery matters are always as expected and they are always open to negotiating fee discussions and maneuvering to meet client expectations.’

‘For me what makes this team so special is their ability to break down complex matters into understandable and clear guidance, whilst remaining calm and completely focused to the end result. All this whilst being transparent and fair on fees.’

‘Simon Heggs demonstrates exceptional technical expertise, whilst also having the client’s best interests at heart. Simon is approachable, friendly and a pleasure to do business with.’

‘Very responsive no matter what time of day.’

‘Simon Heggs is a highly responsive, knowledgeable and pragmatic transactional lawyer: he is a pleasure to work with, and given the choice, his team are definitely my preferred Guernsey counsel to work with. I trust him, which is in my opinion the highest accolade that can be given to a professional advisor.’

‘I found Walkers team to be very welcoming and a pleasure to work with – from the outset they felt like a natural extension of my team. I felt comfortable to ask any questions and these were always met with helpful, knowledgeable responses even though some of these questions may have been basic for some!’

‘Personally this was the most significant transaction that I have been through and the entire process end to end was quick and efficient and at all times. I felt supported by Walkers, who had my best interests at heart.’

‘I would thoroughly recommend Walkers and their team to my colleagues and industry peers.’

‘Matt Sanders took our case and as you would expect completely took control, assembling a solid team and made sure that everything was in the right place, at the right time and well considered.’

‘Jessica Robinson was extremely friendly, helpful and nothing was too much trouble.’

‘Excellent level of client service.’

‘As a new company in a new business sector, we have had a number of challenges to overcome and the team at Walkers have been extremely helpful in getting through these challenges. Our main point of contact has been Sam Shires and he has been able to bring in additional support in an attempt to keep our legal costs down where possible, which as a start-up, is very important. This has not diminished the service levels which have been exemplary. In addition, where there has been a requirement for the Walkers team to improve their knowledge of our industry, they have been flexible in their charge-out time in recognition of the learning and development opportunities that they have benefitted from.’

‘We have found the team very approachable and practical in their solutions. They are always thorough and comprehensive in their delivery, explaining their approach and the reasons for conclusions. Often they will note aspects which we will have not considered in respect of risk, thereby ensuring we are suitably indemnified or covered.’

‘I have worked with Ferbrache & Farrell on a number of assignments for different clients and have always found them to be very responsive and helpful.’

‘A medium-sized law firm in Guernsey with a high level of competence. Have experienced professional advice and services provided in a timely manner to highly professional standards. Their local knowledge is first class.’

‘We worked with Gavin Farrell and Helen McGeoch and both were clear, very responsive and showed good transaction management.’

‘Ferbrache & Farrell LLP are uniquely placed as an independent Guernsey commercial law firm to provide high-quality legal input in the corporate and commercial areas. The team’s strength lies in its responsiveness and service delivery combined with deep expertise and experience in private M&A and mainstream corporate assistance.’

‘Excellent efficiency, dynamic, and excelling in the diversity of understanding of different legal and professional aspects of work. A truly gifted set of individuals within one firm.’

‘Ferbrache & Farrell LLP clearly have an exceptionally diverse and vibrant team which means they are able to deal with anything. No case is too small or too large. I found them to be exceptionally accommodating and highly efficient in dealing with my needs especially as it was on a tight timescale. As a driven organisation and team this allows them to be flexible, efficient and nimble which differentiates them from more old fashioned traditional firms.’

‘From beginning to end the support was exceptional and everyone responded like lightning! Gavin Farrell provided us with the right support speedily.’