LEGAL procedures to be used in the pending sale of CI Traders have been branded a groundbreaking first in Channel Islands law. Pan-island firm Carey Olsen is advising Sandpiper Bidco, a private equity consortium which late last month announced its formal bid to buy for £260m. the largest trading company in the Channel Islands. The deal is now pending shareholder and regulatory approval.

Carey Olsen corporate partner Nigel Carey said the offer was being made by means of a scheme arrangement under Jersey company law. While acquisitions such as this are commonplace in the UK, it is believed to be the first time this method of acquiring shares in a publicly listed company has been used in the Channel Islands.

‘Under this mechanism, once certain conditions have been met, the entire share capital of the company will be acquired by Sandpiper. It is an innovative solution to an unusual and complex case,’ he said.

‘It certainly marks something of a groundbreaking transaction in Channel Islands terms and it drew on expertise from a variety of legal practice areas in both our Channel Islands offices.’

The newly formed Sandpiper is a Jersey company owned by a consortium of funds managed by Duke Street Capital and Europa Capital. Uberior Co-Investments, a subsidiary of HBOS, is a minority investor.

CIT employs 3,300 staff in Jersey and Guernsey. Its portfolio includes Checkers and Checkers Xpress and Safeway supermarkets in both islands, St Pierre Park, La Trelade and Green Acres hotels in Guernsey and the Ann Street Group, Victor Hugo Wines and the Marks & Spencer franchise in Jersey. It also owns MMD Shipping in Portsmouth and a bottling plant near Nantes.

It has been announced that no jobs will be lost if the sale goes through.

Under the offer, shareholders will get £1 per share.

The Carey Olsen team was led by Mike Jeffrey, corporate partner in Jersey, and included a number of partners and lawyers from both the Guernsey and Jersey offices, including the property, banking, corporate and litigation teams.