Led by Group partner Mark Helyar and lawyer Kate Ovenden in Guernsey, Bedell Cristin has successfully represented specialist fund administrator IPES Group in its sale to the private-equity firm the vendors of RJD Partners for an undisclosed sum. They also advised the new management team on its investment in the enlarged merged group.

IPES is a leading specialist offshore provider of private equity funds, servicing more than 300 funds and with more than 4,000 investors. The firm employs over 120 staff in Guernsey, Jersey and London. RJD Partners is a middle-market private equity firm targeting UK companies in the service and leisure sectors. IPES becomes the seventh investment for its second fund.

Bedell Cristin’s presence in Guernsey and Jersey meant it was ideally placed to advise on all corporate, commercial and regulatory issues across both territories, as well as instructing and co-ordinating the advice given by UK lawyers. Bedell Cristin set up and ran an electronic data room for disclosure purposes – an innovative measure for advisers in the Channel Islands.

The vendors of IPES received UK legal advice from Thomas Eggar LLP and corporate finance advice from Cavendish Corporate Finance LLP, while the new management team’s financial advisers were Wyvern Partners.

Steering the acquisition smoothly through due legal process drew on Bedell Cristin’s pan-jurisdictional expertise and thorough knowledge of Channel Islands law. “This was a complex undertaking, with many parties involved,” says Helyar, “but we have the resources and expertise on hand to manage demanding projects like this.”