Ellen Frances James
Senior Associate
Norton Rose Fulbright Australia
Biography
Ellen is an emerging lawyer specialising in corporate law, M&A, equity capital markets and projects. Ellen leads transaction delivery and provides advisory support for both domestic and international clients across a range of industries but with a particular focus on technology, professional services and energy markets. She has been a responsive, pragmatic and efficient team member on a number of first-of-their-kind transactions during her time with the firm. Ellen is known for delivering high-quality and commercial advice that reflects a true appreciation for the motivations driving her client's activities.
Professional experience
Collapse all- Bachelor of Arts (Media & Communications), The University of Sydney
- Bachelor of Laws, The University of Sydney
- Due diligence and transaction delivery lead on 6 acquisitions by Accenture in the Asia-Pacific region, including market research and data analytics firm, FiftyFive5, Malaysia-based digital marketing firm, Entropia and cloud migration service provider, Olikka.
- Advised Shell in respect of Australian corporate aspects of its acquisition of a 49% stake in utility scale solar farm develop, ESCO Pacific, and has been a regular advisor to Shell in respect of its obligations under Australian foreign investment regulation.
- Assisted 3iQ in listing the 3iQ CoinShares Bitcoin Feeder ETF and the 3iQ CoinShares Ether Feeder ETF funds on the Cboe Australia exchange, being some of the first ETFs in Australia that invest solely in an underlying listed fund that invests directly in crypto products.
- Legal advisor to Freightways in respect of half a dozen private acquisitions of Australian waste-management and logistics businesses between 2019 and 2021.
- Advised private equity firm Federation Asset Management on its acquisition of two battery projects in New South Wales with a combined 300 megawatt-hours of storage capacity from renewable energy developer Edify Energy.
- Part of the team that assisted General Motors in all legal aspects of its exit from the Australian automotive market announced in 2020.
- Advised Karora Resources Inc. on Australian legal and regulatory aspects (including FIRB) of its 2019 $50 million acquisition of the Higginsville Gold Operations and its 2022 acquisition of the Lakewood Gold Mill.
- Assisted Ferrier Hodgson on its merger with international professional services firm KPMG in 2019.
- Legal advisor to Knosys Ltd. in respect of a number of acquisitions of Australian SaaS companies including, most recently, Libero Software.
- Advisor to 5G Networks Limited in respect of its merger with Webcentral Limited by a scheme of arrangement in 2021.
- Contributing author to the Australian Corporation Practice textbook and e-book published by LexisNexis (Chapters 2 – 6).
- Contributing author to the 2022 Public M&A Deal Trends report published by Norton Rose Fulbright.