James Nicholls

Partner

Described by his peers as meticulous, compassionate, strategic, dedicated, and insightful, James is a guiding force in the corporate legal landscape. His professional style is characterised by a methodical and considerate approach, seamlessly balancing the rigour of legal strategy with genuine concern for the needs and outcomes of his clients.

With a distinguished career spanning over 15 years, James has become a leading authority in mergers and acquisitions and equity capital markets assisting domestic and foreign companies in successfully implementing inorganic value solutions. He possesses an exceptional command over the nuances of complex, cross-border, and contested public M&A transactions, in addition to managing IPOs and secondary equity fundraising efforts.

James is a member of the Business Law Section of the Corporations Committee of the Law Council of Australia and is the founder of the Mergers & Acquisitions unit at the University of Western Australia. In addition to his legal practice, James enriches the academic sphere as an adjunct associate lecturer at the UWA Law School.

Prior to joining Hamilton Locke, James worked at DLA Piper, Allen & Overy, VimpelCom, AZB & Partners, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, and K&L Gates.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

Energy; Natural Resources; Financial Services; Corporate; M&A; Capital Markets; Corporate Governance; Cross-border Transactions; Deal Structuring

AWARDS

Best Lawyers (Australia), Mergers and Acquisitions, 2020 – Current
Best Lawyers (Australia), Corporate Law, 2020 – Current
Lawyer’s Weekly 30 under 30 awards, M&A, 2013

QUALIFICATIONS

Business Foundations – Wharton Business School
Learning to Lead – INSEAD
Commercial Contracts (Master of Laws) –University of Melbourne
Company Takeovers (Master of Laws) – University of Melbourne
Bachelor of Laws – The University of Western Australia
Bachelor of Arts (Politics) – The University of Western Australia
Admitted to practice in Western Australia and the High Court of Australia

SELECTED REPRESENTATIONS

During his career, James has been involved in a number of ‘market firsts’ and significant matters including:

First equity raising funded acquisition via a pre-packed DOCA (Pilbara Minerals’ acquisition of Altura’s lithium project).
First offer of an ASX listed debt CVR (Oil Search proposed acquisition of InterOil).
First 20% blocking stake via scrip-exchange combined with additional intention statements >20% during a bidding war (Strike’s proposed acquisition of Warrego).
First reverse takeover under the new ASX listing rules (Intrepid’s acquisition of AIC Resources).
First public company takeover via DOCA (Seven Group’s acquisition of Nexus Energy).
Expansion of the Takeovers Panel’s anti-coercion doctrine (Atlas Iron (2018); Alto Metals (2020).
Delineation of the “policy of certainty” under section 629 of the Corporations Act (NGM Resources (2010).