Collas Crill's role in £50 million ferry deal

Saturday 30 August 2014

Legal firm Collas Crill advised Condor Ferries on the purchase of the £50 million fast passenger and car ferry catamaran, Austal 102, to operate the sea route between the Channel Islands and the UK.

In July, after months of negotiations, Condor agreed a deal with the States to provide the combined freight, car and passenger ferry services to and from the Island up to 2028, opening the doors to the multimillion pound investment. From next Easter, the new vessel will replace the two catamarans currently operating that route to the UK.

Over the past year a pan-Island team from Collas Crill, led by Advocate Rosie Stott in Jersey and Wayne Atkinson in Guernsey,  provided corporate, finance, competition and regulatory advice to Condor to secure the new vessel, and the agreement with the Statest. Work is continuing in relation to similar arrangements with the States of Guernsey.

"The complexity and novel nature of the matter meant that we were called upon to give very detailed bespoke Jersey and Guernsey advice in a number of areas," said Advocate Stott. "We believe that the introduction of the new vessel will deliver long-term certainty to the Channel Islands regarding such essential matters as freight supplies and all-weather passenger services and we are extremely proud to be have been involved in something that is so crucial to our islands as a whole."