Prior to joining Vela Wood, Janae was an associate at Vinson & Elkins LLP’s Dallas office in the Corporate practice (formerly known as MACM). During her time at Vinson & Elkins, she assisted with public and private mergers & acquisitions, securities offerings, ’34 Act filings, representations & warranties insurance matters, and general corporate governance.
Janae graduated from Vanderbilt Law School and Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Business in Nashville, Tennessee, with a dual JD/MBA degree. While in law school, Janae served as the Admissions & Recruitment Co-Chair and Black History Month Co-Chair of the Black Law Student Association (BLSA), Treasurer of Law Students for Social Justice (LSSJ), and was a Student Attorney in the Criminal Law Practice Clinic. While in business school, Janae served as the Events Chair of the Owen Black Student Association (OBSA) and supported mission driven entrepreneurs on the Project Pyramid Committee of the Turner Family Center for Social Ventures.
Prior to pursuing her JD/MBA, Janae worked as a financial analyst at Abbott Laboratories. While at Abbott, she was able to work in five different Abbott divisions in five different locations, from Nutrition in Columbus, Ohio, specifically working on the PediaSure and Pedialyte product lines, to Vascular in Temecula, California.
Prior to law school, Janae graduated from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, majoring in Finance with a minor in Criminal Justice.
Janae regularly volunteers with the SPCA of Texas Dallas Animal Care Center.
She was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio but now resides in Dallas, Texas. Outside of work, Janae enjoys reading (especially thriller and romance novels), working out, traveling, going to concerts, and trying new restaurants!
Select Representations
*Transactions reflect Janae’s work at prior firms.
- Represented FourPoint Resources LLC, in partnership with Quantum Capital Group and Kayne Anderson Capital Partners, in the acquisition of Ovintiv Inc.’s Uinta Basin assets for $2B in cash*
- Represented HF Sinclair Corporation, an independent energy company, on its acquisition of all of the outstanding common units of Holly Energy Partners, L.P., not owned by HF Sinclair or its affiliates, at a valuation of $1.6B*
- Represented HF Sinclair Corporation in a $1.05B cash tender offer of outstanding Senior Notes of HF Sinclair Corporation and its wholly owned subsidiary, HollyFrontier Corporation*
- Represented FlexSteel Technologies Holdings, Inc. and its affiliates in FlexSteel’s acquisition by Cactus Inc., a leading manufacturer of pressure control equipment used during onshore and offshore oil and gas drilling, completion, and production operations, at a valuation of $621M*
- Represented Atlas Energy Solutions Inc., a leading provider of high-quality proppant and innovative logistics services to the oil and gas industry, on its acquisition of Hi-Crush Inc., a leading supplier of premium frac sand and logistics services, at a valuation of $450M*
- Represented North Texas Public Broadcasting, Inc., a not-for-profit public media organization serving North Texas, on the purchase of The Denton Record-Chronicle, the primary source of local news in Denton County, Texas, at a valuation of $875k*
Fun Facts:
- Janae had the opportunity to live in the United Kingdom while working for Abbott Laboratories
- She attended the MTV Movie Awards once and sat directly behind the cast of Pitch Perfect
- She has visited 30 countries
Education:
- Vanderbilt Law School
- Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management, specializing in Strategy and Human & Organizational Performance
- The Ohio State University, BSBA in Finance, Minor in Criminal Justice