TMI Associates, one of the five largest law firms in Japan, has broad expertise across corporate and M&A, dispute resolution, intellectual property and regulatory matters. In particular, the firm has good expertise in the IP arena as it houses a strong bench of practitioners skilled in handling the full spectrum of domestic and cross-border contentious and non-contentious matters. The firm also has a proven track record advising clients in the banking, consumer goods and services, manufacturing, and media and entertainment sectors. TMI Associates’ connections to several major global firms and joint ventures ensures it can offer seamless and outstanding legal services both foreign and domestic. Corporate and M&A specialists Masakazu Iwakura and Tatsuhiro Takahara, are key figures.
Work highlights
Advised Alps Alpine on successfully defending a ¥20 billion lawsuit challenging its business integration with Alpine Electronics through a share exchange transaction. The landmark Supreme Court victory in November 2024 conclusively upheld the validity of both the share exchange procedure and ratio, rejecting claims by Oasis Investments II Master Fund and Oasis Japan Strategic Fund. The case set a significant precedent for Japanese M&A transactions by affirming the courts' approach to evaluating the fundamental validity of share exchange structures, not merely the consideration aspects.
Key clients
Dwango Co, Meta Platforms, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings
Work highlights
Advised Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) on its ¥162 billion ($1.1 billion) dual-tranche Samurai bond issuance, comprising a ¥110.4 billion Twelfth Series and ¥51.6 billion Thirteenth Series. The offering marked ANZ's first bond issuance in Japan following its January 2023 corporate restructuring that established ANZ Group Holdings as the new listed parent company, requiring innovative documentation solutions to address the new group structure.
Key clients
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Kanematsu Corporation, República Oriental del Uruguay
