Industries
Technology & Digital Economy 
Retail & Consumer Goods Practices
Mergers & Acquisitions 
Corporate & Commercial 
Private Capital James has 13 years of experience working across a broad range of commercial transactions including M&A, venture capital, start-up capital raising, corporate structuring, shareholder and joint venture arrangements and other commercial arrangements.
With a focus on private mergers & acquisitions and investments, James acts for buyers and sellers in share sales, asset sales, equity investments and venture capital transactions. His clients include private and public companies, venture capital funds, startups, investors, family-owned businesses, government departments and SMEs.
James regularly works with technology businesses but has experience across a wide range of industries including food & beverage, agriculture, financial services, manufacturing and retail.
James heads up the firm’s start-up practice and runs the ‘Frank Lab’ start-up accelerator program. His work with high growth companies means he acts as a trusted advisor to many founders and entrepreneurs.
James has experience working in the US, having undertaken a secondment with New York based law firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler, where he acted on a number of large debt and equity transactions.
Experience
- Advised myprosperity on its $40m sale to HUB24 (ASX: HUB), a listed wealth industry provider and supplier of the HUB24 platform
- Advised Deluxe Small Business Sales, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of NYSE-listed Deluxe Corporation, on the sale of all its shares in Hostopia Australia Holding Co Pty Ltd to Newfold Digital, Inc.
- Advising Breakthrough Victoria, the Victorian Government’s $2b investment fund, on a range of venture capital investments.
- Advising Invest Victoria on multiple venture capital investments.
- Advised the shareholders of DGIT Systems on their sale of the business to NASDAQ-listed CSG International, a global business support systems provider.
- Advising Liberty Oil on the sale of its wholesale fuel business to Viva Energy Australia and the establishment of a new retail fuel joint venture with Viva.
- Advised Lumi Interactive, an Australian female-founded team of game developers, on its US$6.75 million (approximately A$9.76 million) series seed priced equity capital raise round.
- Acting for Maggie Beer Holdings (ASX: MBH) on its $50m acquisition of e-commerce company Hampers & Gifts Australia and the associated placement and underwritten accelerated non-renounceable entitlement offer to raise $30m.
- Acting for Fluence Corporation Limited on its $75 million acquisition of a large privately held US company with a global business in the wastewater treatment industry.
- Acting for the Australian distributor of Sonos products in the sale of its shares to US company, Sonos, Inc.
- Advising Note Printing Australia on a number of local and international supply arrangements.
- Acting for REA Group Limited/Realestate.com.au in respect of its acquisition of online property platform, PropConnect.
- Acting on the restructure of Australia’s largest privately-owned construction company.
- Acting for the management shareholders of two IOOF subsidiaries in the sale of their shares to LSE and ASX listed investment company, Henderson Global Investors.
Latest thinking
Capital Markets | 31 Jan 2024
Raising the bar for sophisticated investors
ASIC has recommended raising the financial thresholds for investors to qualify 'sophisticated', which would be the first adjustment since 2001. We outline what the proposed thresholds would look like and the potential impact of the recommendations.