Find Lawyers in Australia for Venture Capital Law
Practice Area Overview
Venture capital is money that is provided to fund early stage, emerging growth businesses. Those businesses are typically ones with high growth potential, but with commensurate higher risk profiles. They usually have novel technology or business models in growth industries such as e-commerce, IT, mobile applications, clean technology, life sciences, and specialty pharmaceuticals. Venture capital is invested in exchange for equity in the business and typically occurs after the seed funding round. Venture capital is typically sought by relatively new, privately held companies that face difficulty in raising capital by other means, such as from banks or the public markets.
Venture capital lawyers advise venture capital investors, target companies, or a company’s founders at all stages of the investment cycle. They can assist with the establishment of private equity funds, structuring of private equity investments, undertaking legal due diligence on investments, negotiating and documenting of venture capital acquisitions, shareholder agreements, and management incentive plans. They often negotiate and document strategic partnership transactions (such as intellectual property licensing, research and development partnerships, and joint ventures), management buy-outs, leveraged buy-outs, and advise on exit transactions via IPOs, trade sales, or share sales.
Venture capital lawyers are usually the first point of call for emerging growth businesses who will require pragmatic, decisive advice on a broad range of issues, including general corporate governance, intellectual property matters, employment matters, and debt financing and regulatory issues.
Venture capital lawyers must also possess strong commercial acumen and have an understanding of the client’s technology and industry so that they can makes calls on relevant issues and deliver agreed commercial objectives on time and budget and with the minimum of disruption to their clients’ businesses.
James is the leader of our Public M&A and Equity Capital Markets practice. He is a current member of the Australian Takeovers Panel and has extensive experience working in top-tier corporate law firms in Australia and London. James’ experience includes leading the Kain teams advising: SILK Laser Clinics (ASX:SLA) on its proposed acquisition by Australian Pharmaceutical Industries (API) (a subsidiary of Wesfarmers (ASX:WES)) by way of scheme of arrangement for approximately $180m; Ke...
Gerry is the leader of our M&A (Private) and Equity Capital Markets (Private) practices. He has been advising on capital raising transactions, mergers and acquisitions and capital structuring for over 30 years in key financial markets including Sydney, Hong Kong and London. He is a trusted advisor to our clients. Gerry’s experience includes leading the Kain teams advising: sportsmed on the sale of their hospital to Burnside War Memorial Hospital; SILK Laser Clinics (ASX:SLA) on its ...
John is a founding Partner of Coghlan Duffy. He has a broad commercial practice with a focus on serving entrepreneurial clients through incorporation, investment rounds and exit transactions. John also has considerable experience in venture capital, private M&A, and general corporate and commercial matters.
Michael leads our growth activity, combining his product, market and client experience. He is an experienced corporate lawyer who has advised some of Australia’s biggest corporates and funds on their most complex and strategically critical transactions. Michael’s practice includes advising on corporate mergers and acquisitions, capital raises, alternative asset fund establishment and deployment as well as foreign investment and financial services advice. Michael has a particular f...
Consistently ranked by clients and peers as a leading corporate lawyer, Kain Lawyers’ founder and Managing Director has over 25 years’ experience in M&A and equity capital markets law. John’s experience ranges across private equity, capital markets and mergers and acquisitions. His experience in advising public and private companies and investment funds has seen him consistently ranked by the AFR’s ‘Best Lawyers in Australia’ and Doyles Guide as a leadi...
Michael specialises in corporate and personal insolvency law and is recognised as one of Australia’s leading insolvency lawyers. He acts regularly for banks, financial institutions and other secured lenders providing advice in relation to the security enforcement. He acts for insolvency practitioners in all types of personal and corporate business restructuring and insolvency administrations. Michael is regularly engaged to act for companies and directors providing advice on the restruc...
Loretta Reynolds has been a Partner of the firm since 1998 and was elected Chair in 2007. While her main focus is on her funds management/mergers & acquisitions practice, she also has executive responsibility for client development and relationships in all markets. Loretta is individually recognised in Chambers Asia Pacific (2013, 2014 – 2016) in the Private Equity category for her “ extensive experience in fund formation, handling of buyouts, and work for superannuation funds...
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.