The price and other details of the acquisition were not disclosed.
The acquisition “significantly boosts JTC’s numbers in [Guernsey, and adds] specialist fund expertise both locally and for the group”, JTC said in a statement announcing the acquisition.
JTC was founded more than 25 years ago, and currently operates in 10 jurisdictions. In addition to Jersey and Guernsey, these include Luxembourg, the UK, Switzerland, the British Virgin Islands, Argentina, Brazil, New Zealand and the US.
It provides administration services to both closed and open ended funds established in Jersey, Guernsey and Luxembourg, as well as services to other non-domiciled fund structures in such jurisdictions as the Cayman Islands and the BVI.
AFSL, formerly known as Bachmann Fund Administration, was established in Guernsey in 1993, and administers investment funds across a variety of asset classes, utilising a range of fund structures. It is a part of Ardel Holdings Ltd, which specialises in trusts, and in addition to Guernsey has trust operations in London, Geneva and Auckland, New Zealand.
In the statement, Nigel Le Quesne, group chief executive of JTC, praised the reputation of the AFSL “team”, and said the acquisition was an important one for his company, as it would give it a more substantial presence in Guernsey while also representing “another step towards…a more global offering for our clients”.
All 13 of AFSL’s staff in Guernsey will join JTC Group, with the combined team operating out of AFSL’s existing premises in Frances House in St Peter Port. Paul Duquemin, who had been managing director of Ardel Fund Services, is now MD of the combined entity in Guernsey.
Paul Smith, a director for JTC Group who is now senior director of the combined team, is described as having been “instrumental” in bringing the two companies together. He said that discussions about the potential synergies between JTC and AFSL had been going on “for several months” before the deal was finally agreed.
“We are all looking forward to finally working together under one roof,” he added.
