Nishimura & Asahi is established as a top-tier law firm in the country. It boasts highly reputed teams providing the full spectrum of transactions as well as complex litigation and arbitration work. With over 700 Japanese and foreign lawyers, the firm is frequently instructed by the biggest household-name corporations in Japan, and by foreign conglomerates across the financial services, automotive, technology, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing sectors. Nishimura & Asahi is also a firm with significant global connections that enable it to provide the utmost quality when it comes to matters of law. The firm’s main figures include Kohei Koikawa for capital markets, Kozo Kawai for competition, Yoshinobu Fujimoto for corporate and M&A, and Hiroyuki Tezuka for dispute resolution.
Work highlights
Represented Itochu Corporation on the sale of Paidy, a leading two-sided payments platform to US online payments solutions provider PayPal Holdings.
Advised Blackstone Group on its acquisition of eight hotels from Japanese railway operator Kintetsu Group Holdings.
Advised Invesco Office J-REIT on a successful defence against an unsolicited tender offer for Invesco Office J-REIT’s investment units by Starwood Capital.
Key clients
AirAsia Aviation, Anchor Equity Partners (Asia), Goldman Sachs, Rakuten Group, The Carlyle Group
Work highlights
Defended Amazon Services International in a lawsuit alleging that the client’s failure to distribute the plaintiff’s content constitutes a tort and breach of contract.
Advised Takeda on the sale of its subsidiary, Takeda Consumer Healthcare, to a company under the Blackstone Group and its affiliates for $2.3 billion.
Advised Heartseed, a Japanese biotech start-up, on a global collaboration and licensing agreement with Danish pharma giant Novo Nordisk.
Work highlights
Acted as legal counsel for Shionogi in a litigation against Japan’s tax authority regarding an issue arising from an in-kind contribution of a partnership interest for the development of a drug to fight AIDS.
Work highlights
Advised AT Partners on the establishment of a venture fund, AT Partners 2 Fund of $170 million.
Advised Nippon Mirai Capital, an independent Japanese investment manager, on the establishment of NMC IV Investment Limited Partnership, NMC’s fourth private equity fund.
Key clients
Angel Bridge, Aozora Corporate Investment, Enechange, Fiducia, Goldwin, MCP Capital, Nomura Holdings
Work highlights
Advised Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group on the sale of 100% shares in MUFG Union Bank to US Bancorp, the largest regional bank in the country.
Advising Hitachi Metals on an M&A transaction that includes a tender offer for Hitachi Metals’ shares held by public shareholders.
Key clients
Goldman Sachs, H2O Retailing Corporation, Invesco Office J-REIT, Itochu Corporation, SBI Holdings, Tokyo Kikai Seisakusho, Toshiba Corporation
Work highlights
Advised Nomura Securities, Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities and SMBC Nikko Securities on the follow-on offering by West Japan Railway Company.
Advised PHC Holdings Corporation and KKR on PHCHD’s global IPO and listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Key clients
BofA Securities Japan Securities Company, Japan Finance Corporation, Mizuho Securities, Morgan Stanley Securities,Net Protections Holdings, Nippon Steel Corporation, Orient Corporation
Work highlights
Advised Rakuten and KKR on the LBO financing for the acquisition of Seiyu from Walmart.
Advising ENEOS Holdings on the going-private transaction of its listed subsidiary, Nippo Corporation.
ProvidedAdvantage Partners and Tokyo Century Corporation with legal advice on the financing for the acquisition of shares in Energywith, which in turn was acquiring the energy storage devices and systems business of Showa Denko Materials.
Key clients
Mizuho Bank, Nomura Babcock & Brown
