Offshore firms Collas Day and Crill Canavan to merge

The merger will take effect in early April next year and will substantially boost both firms’ profiles. The combined firm will be known as Collas Crill.

Collas Day senior partner Chris Bound said the firm, which is based in Guernsey, felt it needed to expand in order to sustain the service it offered to existing and potential clients, which are not based solely in Guernsey or the Channel Islands.

“This isn’t a size issue, this is a service delivery issue,” Bound told The Lawyer.

He said the firms had been in talks for five to six months after Collas Day approached Jersey-based Crill Canavan.

Crill Canavan senior partner Nuno Santos-Costa said together the firms had an “excellent strategic fit”.

Collas Day brings nine partners and 80 staff to the merger, while Crill Canavan will contribute six partners and 60 staff.

The Guernsey firm’s majority-owned fiduciary companies, Guernsey Trust Company and Collas Day IP Management, also join the merger. The IP company will be known as Collas Crill IP Management and both fiduciaries will be held by the fused firm, with profits flowing into Collas Crill.

Bound revealed the merged firm is planning further expansion into Asia in the future. Financial services promotion agencies in Jersey and Guernsey already have offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai respectively and the region is a source of significant investment into Channel Islands funds.

“We already have quite a lot of contacts [in Asia],” said Bound. “The merger means that we’ve got the products from two jurisdictions.”

He declined to comment on the expected turnover of the combined firm.