Bermuda global law firm Appleby shut its London office because of a “rationalisation of resources” ahead of a management buyout of its fiduciary business.

Appleby said it had examined the need for a London presence for some time due to the closeness of Appleby offices in Guernsey and Jersey in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

London-based partners Stephen James and David Clark have relocated to the Caymans and British Virgin Islands respectively, while a third lawyer, Deborah Poole has “retired to pursue other interests.”

An Appleby spokeswoman said: “The background to this is that we have grown our Crown Dependencies teams significantly in recent years — we are in fact the only offshore law firm that has a presence in all of three Crown Dependencies.

“We have been providing a comprehensive and seamless service to a significant percentage of our clients and contacts in the London time zone through these offices for some time.

“Due to their immediate proximity, communications/travel between Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man and London is very simple.

“The need for a London office in light of this was being thought through before the management buyout of the fiduciary business was considered.

“However, alongside a comprehensive review of our logistics as part of the preparation for the management buyout, we reached a natural point at which to implement a rationalisation of our resources in London simply because it made no difference to our ability to deal with our clients and intermediaries, and it has enabled us to refocus our resources into other offices within the group.”

The London office shut up shop in late summer.

Appleby announced earlier this year that its fiduciary and administration business, which has 320 staff, some Bermuda-based, was to be spun off in a deal backed by London-based international private equity firm Bridgepoint.

Farah Ballands, an Appleby partner and global group head of fiduciary, who is based in the firm’s Jersey office, will become chief executive of the independent fiduciary business, which provides a range of professional services.

And the new independent arm said it had plans to expand the business and the workforce.

In Bermuda, the fiduciary arm is made up of Appleby Services (Bermuda) Ltd, Appleby Management (Bermuda) Ltd and Appleby Securities Ltd.

Neither side was prepared to disclose the cost of the buyout, but the deal has been estimated to be worth around $370 million.

The fiduciary business covers corporate administration services, private client and trust business, back-office services for Bermuda-registered companies and trusts and the Bermuda Stock Exchange listing services.

The unit is also a significant player in the Island’s booming insurance-linked securities (ILS) business.

Appleby is the second major offshore legal firm to pull out of London in the last two years.

Jersey-based Ogier relocated two lawyers back to the Channel Islands in 2013, but maintained a trust and administration office in London.

Ogier, like Appleby, completed a management buyout of its fiduciary business shortly afterwards.