IFLR 1000
The Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms

	Carey Olsen Mourant Ozannes
	Ogier
	Collas Crill
	Babbé Bedell Cristin
	AO Hall Appleby

The Appleby team is led on the bank side by Helen Crossley and in the corporate area by Barney Lee.
The firm picks up a number of mandates from banking and private equity clients including the likes Standard Bank, Citi and HSBC.... [more]

The Appleby team is led on the bank side by Helen Crossley and in the corporate area by Barney Lee.
The firm picks up a number of mandates from banking and private equity clients including the likes Standard Bank, Citi and HSBC.

Deals
One notable transaction last year saw the tem advise Standard Bank on its extension of facilities to a subsidiary of African Minerals.

The firm also picked up two mandates for Blackstone Real Estate Partners advising in connection to both the acquisition of the Valad Property Group and on the Guernsey, Jersey and Cayman aspects of its acquisition of the Triangle Portfolio 3.
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	Carey Olsen Mourant Ozannes
	Ogier
	Babbé Bedell Cristin Collas Crill
	AO Hall Appleby

Appleby’s funds offering in Guernsay is helped by the firm’s wide network which incorporates all the major offshore centres. This allows the firm to offer clients the full range of options and choices when they are choosing a location.... [more]

Appleby’s funds offering in Guernsay is helped by the firm’s wide network which incorporates all the major offshore centres. This allows the firm to offer clients the full range of options and choices when they are choosing a location.

In Guernsey itself the team is led by Barney Lee and last year he acted for Giltspur Capital in the establishment of a closed ended litigation fund using a general partner and limited partnership structure.

Elsewhere the team advised Stenham UK Property Portfolio 5 on the launch of the fund which is expected to raise between £100-200 million.
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	Mourant Ozannes Ogier
	Bedell Cristin Carey Olsen
	Appleby
	Voisin & Co Walkers
	Collas Crill Pinel Advocates

The market consensus suggests that Appleby is still somewhat behind the top four firms in terms of presence in the market. "Should be below the big boys," says a partner.... [more]

The market consensus suggests that Appleby is still somewhat behind the top four firms in terms of presence in the market. "Should be below the big boys," says a partner.

Nevertheless, Appleby is involved in some of the biggest cases this year such as the series of enforcement cases with Nama. It also has one of the broadest networks of any firm on the island.

The team led by Mark Lewis expanded this year with the hire of Alex Last from Mourant Ozannes.

Deals
Andrew Weaver was involved in two of the firm's M&A deals. Last year Weaver advised Wells Fargo for on its acquisition of LaCrosse Global Fund Services. Again, Weaver represented GSO Capital Partners, the credit fund division of the Blackstone Group, on the acquisition of Harbourmaster Capital, one of the largest leveraged loan managers in Europe.

In addition the firm was instructed by Linklaters to advise Glencore on the establishment of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to buy and sell shares, which participated in a securities issue and offering listed on the LSE.

In restructuring and insolvency, the firm has been working with Nama (National Asset Management Agency) in Ireland on a number of ongoing cases, involving both Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. These included review and advice on guarantee and security enforcement with Tiger Developments, enforcement of Jersey law security interests over a Jersey Property Unit Trust. The various deals, worth up to €1.1 billion, were handled by Wendy Benjamin, James Gaudin and their Appleby colleagues in Guernsey and Isle of Man.

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	Mourant Ozannes
	Bedell Cristin Carey Olsen Ogier
	Appleby Voisin & Co Walkers
	Collas Crill Pinel Advocates

Within Appleby's investment funds team, Andrew Weaver is highly regarded by peers. The market has mixed views about the firm's growth but there is no doubt about the number of new fund clients the firm is acquiring.... [more]

Within Appleby's investment funds team, Andrew Weaver is highly regarded by peers. The market has mixed views about the firm's growth but there is no doubt about the number of new fund clients the firm is acquiring. The firm will hope this forward motion can be maintained.

Deals
Appleby has secured a few interesting mandates. In private equity, Andrew Weaver acted on the formation of the Kojimachi/Hanzomon fund structure, a private equity fund investing in private equity opportunities in Japan and incorporation of related general partner companies.

Another private equity deal saw Mark Lewis advise Qanna on the establishment of a $20 million closed-ended permanent capital fund vehicle investing in private equity in GCC, which is listed on AIM of the LSE.

Weaver also advised Stirling Square on the launch of their new Special Situations Fund, having advised on the client's buyout funds 1 and 2 before.

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	Appleby Cains
	Simcocks
	Callin Wild Dougherty Quinn M&P Legal MannBenham Advocates

Appleby's Isle of Man base is led by Nick Verardi. The firm is the strongest outfit on the island in regard to international scope, with offices in all the key offshore centres.... [more]

Appleby's Isle of Man base is led by Nick Verardi. The firm is the strongest outfit on the island in regard to international scope, with offices in all the key offshore centres.

Last year the team was enhanced with the addition of associate Marina Warwick from Simcocks. She deals mainly with Russian and CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) clients.

The firm has one of the largest teams on the island with 24 fee earners. It continues to provide advice to Isle of Man companies on capital markets, funds and trusts work including listings on the LSE and AIM in London.

Deals
Over the last 12 months the firm has handled a variety of activities, ranging from banking and financing to acquisition and restructuring.

The firm has been instructed to transfer from one lender to another a £196 million loan facility to a unit trust. The unit trust owns a property in an enterprise zone in Scotland. Led by Simon Harding, the complex transaction was carefully designed in order to preserve investors' tax benefits.

Another transactional highlight saw Harding act for a consortium made up of business tycoon Gerald Ronson's Snax 24, Investec and Grovepoint on Isle of Man aspects of the acquisition of the core businesses of fuel group Total. With the overall value of £110 million, this transaction attracted significant media attention as this was part of the wider UK acquisition of more than 500 sites.

Despite low activity in equity capital markets, John Melia and Simon Cain successfully secured an IPO for Continental Farmers Group, an Isle of Man-based agricultural producer with operations in Poland and Ukraine. This €16.1 million listing was admitted to the London AIM market.

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