Garry Manley

Garry Manley is a partner in our Isle of Man office who advises on a broad range of Isle of Man and BVI corporate transactions. He has extensive experience of advising on domestic and cross-border mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures and venture capital/private equity investments, with a particular focus on regulated financial services and insurance businesses.

In addition to his M&A practice, Garry has a strong regulatory practice and frequently advises on the regulation of traditional and developing industries, including cryptoassets. He is a pre-eminent thought-leader in respect of the regulated cannabis sector on the Isle of Man and is also distinguished in the area of economic substance, having been the only lawyer on the Isle of Man government’s public-private working group since 2019. He also supports clients in contentious regulatory matters, including regulatory investigations and enforcement proceedings.

He received a First Class law degree from Oxford University, where he placed in the top 10 in his year and received numerous academic awards, including the Quadrant Chambers Prize for obtaining the highest mark in the university in one of his papers. Before joining Appleby he practised for almost a decade as a mergers & acquisitions and transactional private equity specialist in the London, Hong Kong and New York offices of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP.

In addition to his advisory work, Garry frequently provides input into legislative developments across a broad range of topics. He was closely involved in the development of the Isle of Man’s first merger control regime, and he has also been consulted about legislative developments in the areas of company law, cannabis regulation, economic substance and beneficial ownership.

Garry has received a number of industry accolades in recent years, including:

• Top Recommended 40 Under 40, Citywealth Leaders List 2022.
• Gold award for “IFC Lawyer of the year, partner”, Citywealth Future Leaders Awards 2021.
• “Best private client advisers on the Isle of Man for high-net-worth individuals”, Spear’s 2021 and 2022.
• “Rising Star Lawyer, Isle of Man”, IFLR Rising Star Awards Europe 2020 and 2021.
• Silver award for “IFC Lawyer of the year, partner”, Citywealth Future Leaders Awards 2020.
• Legal 500 UK describes Garry as “an outstanding corporate lawyer” who “knows how to get a deal done”.

Garry is a solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales, an Isle of Man advocate and a solicitor in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (British Virgin Islands).

EXPERTISE:

Recent examples of Garry’s representative work include:

• Advising Blackstone on the €21 billion recapitalisation of Mileway, the largest private real estate transaction ever.
• Advising SBTech (Global) Limited on its $3.3 billion three-way merger with DraftKings Inc. and Diamond Eagle Acquisition Corp.
• Advising on the establishment of Erso Capital PCC Limited, a $1 billion litigation financing vehicle.
• Advising STX Entertainment on its merger-of-equals with Eros International.
• Advising International Financial Group Limited on the sale of a majority shareholding by Vitruvian Partners to Cinven.
• Advising SOF-12 Cambridge BidCo Limited, a newly formed company owned by Starwood Funds, on its £467.9 million recommended cash offer for London-listed RDI REIT P.L.C.
• Advising International Financial Group Limited on its acquisition of a 76% interest in Friends Provident International Limited for £259 million.
• Advising the second Basalt Infrastructure Partners fund on its recommended takeover of AIM-listed Manx Telecom plc for approximately £255.9 million.
• Advising TISE-listed Atlantic Leaf Properties, as part of a pan-Crown Dependency Appleby team, on the sale of its UK logistics portfolio for £242.1 million.
• Advising Monument Re on its acquisition of LCLI International Life Assurance Company Limited and Charles Taylor Group’s other Isle of Man operations.
• Advising IPS-Integrated Project Services, a portfolio company of Alleghany Capital, on its acquisition of Anchorbuoy Limited, the parent company of Linesight, a global consultancy firm.
• Advising KKR & Co. on its acquisition of Prometic Bioseparations Ltd from Liminal BioSciences Inc.
• Advising BGF on its $17.2 million investment in Myzone.
• Advising Thomas Miller Investment (Isle of Man) Limited on the sale of its offshore private client investment management business to Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management.
• Advising W.H. Ireland Group plc on the sale of W H Ireland (IOM) Limited to Ravenscroft Holdings.
• Advising on a number of insurance business transfer schemes.
• Advising on the establishment of a number of regulated collective investment schemes.

EDUCATION:

Oxford University (University College)