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© 2012 Dorsey & Whitney LLP

 
  • Named "Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers, 2011
  • Named one of “The Best Lawyers in the Los Angeles Area” by the Los Angeles Times
  • Selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® (© by Woodward/White, Inc.)
  • Named a "California Super Lawyer" by Law and Politics Magazine
  • Named a “Top Attorney” by Orange Coast Magazine

  • Vanderbilt University School of Law (J.D, 1990), Associate Editor, Vanderbilt Law Review
  • Indiana University - Bloomington (B.S., 1987), high distinction, Garshwiler Scholarship Recipient

  • California
  • Admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Central District of California

Ellen S. Bancroft

Partner
Southern California, Palo Alto
P: (714) 800-1404
F: (714) 800-1499
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Ms. Bancroft is a partner, and the head of Dorsey's California Corporate Group. Ms. Bancroft has extensive experience representing public and private companies and investors in mergers and acquisitions and private financings, as well as representing issuers and underwriters in initial public offerings and registered follow-on and secondary public offerings. She has worked on more than more than 50 public and private acquisitions ranging in size from several million dollars to over $1 billion and more than 35 public offerings raising in excess of $1 billion. Her practice includes a broad range of corporate and securities transactional matters, Securities and Exchange Commission regulatory matters, NYSE and Nasdaq compliance matters, general corporate counseling and corporate governance compliance.

Ms. Bancroft's clients range from seed-financed and venture-backed, privately-held companies to large, well-established public companies. She counsels companies from original business plans through initial public offerings and beyond as public companies. She serves as general counsel to many of her clients and their management and boards of directors, helping to shape and execute their business strategies and advising them on day-to-day legal and other strategic issues.

Ms. Bancroft was formerly a Partner in the Business and Technology practice group of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP and served as the Co-Chairperson of Brobeck's firm wide Venture Capital Practice Group from 1999 to 2003.

Representative Transactions

Selected Public Offerings:  ATL Products, Inc. (IPO); Barrett Business Services, Inc. (Follow-on); Broadcom Corporation (IPO and Follow-on); Buy.Com Inc. (IPO); CN Biosciences, Inc. (Follow-on); ECOtality, Inc. (PIPE); eDiets (Registered Direct Offering); The Ensign Group, Inc. (IPO); Exult, Inc. (IPO); HireRight, Inc. (IPO); IMPCO Technologies (Follow-on); Interchange Corporation (IPO); Interpore International (IPO); Irvine Sensors Corporation (multiple PIPES); Iteris, Inc. (multiple PIPES); Omnivision Technologies (IPO); Pinnacle Micro, Inc. (IPO); Premier Laser Systems, Inc. (IPO and Follow-on); RightNow Technologies, Inc. (IPO); State Of The Art, Inc. (IPO); SysteMed, Inc. (Follow-on); T3 Motion, Inc. (Follow-on); U.S. Auto Parts Network, Inc. (IPO); Volcom, Inc. (IPO); and WebSideStory, Inc. (IPO); Zoo Entertainment (Follow-On) 

Selected Venture Capital and Private Equity Investments: Advanced ICU Care (Series C and bridge financing); AD PathLabs, Inc. (Series C); Buy.Com, Inc. (Series A); Broadcom Corporation (multiple investments in private companies); CodeRyte, Inc. (Series D); CoreObjects Software, Inc. (Series A); DispenseSource (Series D); E-dn.com, Inc. (Series C); HireRight, Inc. (Series D and E); Iken Tissue Therapeutics (Series A); Inphi Corporation (Series A, B and C); IPNet Solutions, Inc. (Series C); Irvine Sensors Corporation (convertible debt-financings); M86 Security (Series A); M-Stream, Inc. (Series A); MedManage Systems, Inc. (Series C and multiple bridge financings); M-Audio, Inc. (Series A); MineShare, Inc. (Series A); Nuelight Corp. (Series A); OHMx Corporation (Series A and multiple debt financings); Ovacore (Series A); PreDx Corporation (Series A); TechSpace Inc. (Series B and C); and Verteq, Inc. (Series AAA, AA, A and B and multiple debt financings)

Selected Mergers and Acquisitions:
  • 8e6 Technologies, Inc. - merger with Marshal Limited ($ amount confidential)
  • ATL Products, Inc. - acquisition by Quantum Corporation ($300.0 million)
  • Broadcom Corporation - over 20 acquisitions since 1999 (registered direct offering) and 13 Fairness Hearings before the California Department of Corporations
  • Colorbus, Inc. - acquisition by Star Imaging ($20.0 million) and acquisition of CDS International, B.V. ($ amount confidential)
  • CoreObjects Software, Inc. - acquisition of Jopasana Software (India) ($ amount confidential)
  • EACO Corporation – merger with Bisco Industries ($ amount confidential)
  • Enfrastructure, Inc. - acquisition of TechSpace Inc. and subsequent management buyout ($ amount confidential)
  • Firstrax Pet Products - acquisition by United Pet Group ($25.0 million)
  • HireRight, Inc. - sale to U.S. Investigations Services, Inc. ($249.0 million)
  • Irvine Sensors Corporation - acquisition of Optex Systems ($25.0 million)
  • Iteris Inc. - sale of Zyfer, Inc. subsidiary, acquisition of Meyer, Mohaddes & Associates and roll-up of Iteris subsidiary ($ amounts confidential)
  • Jonathan Engineered Solutions – acquisition by Industrial Growth Partners ($60.0 million)
  • M-Audio Inc. - acquisition by Avid Technology, Inc. ($242 million)
  • O'Neil Product Development, Inc. - Sale to Dover Technologies ($ amount confidential)
  • Vastera, Inc. - acquisition of Speed Chain Network, Inc. ($16.2 million)
  • United Online, Inc. - Sale of Simpli.com ($ amount confidential)

Presentations

  • Frequent lecturer on M&A issues and corporate securities and corporate governance matters

Professional Activities

  • Chairperson, The Semiconductor Venture Fair, 2001-2007 (San Jose, CA)
  • Member, UCI CEO Roundtable
  • Board Member, Orange County Venture Group
  • Member, Orange County Bar Association, Corporate Section
  • Member, Association for Corporate Growth
  • Member, Forum for Corporate Directors