The Legal 500

Mori Hamada & Matsumoto opened an office in Singapore in 2012 to improve service to its international and Japanese clients in the region. The firm advised Bain Capital on its buyout of Skylark; UCC Holdings Co on its acquisition of United Coffee from CapVest Equity Partners; and Nisshinbo Holdings on its €440m acquisition of TMD Friction Holdings from Pamplona Capital Partners II. Gaku Ishiwata, Satoko Kuwabara, Satoshi Kawai, Yuto Matsumura and Hajime Tanahashi are highly recommended.

Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu’s Koichi Takeuchi, Kenichi Fujinawa, Tohru Nakajima and Hiroki Inoue have market-leading reputations for corporate and M&A work. Yuko Tamai, Tomohiko Iwasaki and Soichiro Uno are also recommended. The firm is advising on the merger between Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Industries, as well as the proposed union between Tokyo Stock Exchange Group and Osaka Securities Exchange. The firm also advised Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and SMBC on the acquisition of RBS’ aircraft leasing business, and assisted Nomura Holdings with its acquisition of 100% of Nomura Land & Building Co through share purchase and stock-for-stock exchange.

Nishimura & Asahi is recommended for its ‘rich experience’ and top-quality team, while the The firm’s strong restructuring and bankruptcy experience, particularly in contentious insolvency work, is a useful adjunct to the core practice. The group advised Mizuho Securities on its 100% share exchange buyout by Mizuho Financial Group and Mizuho Corporate Bank. On the buy side, it advised Tomy on its acquisition of RC2 Corporation, and Teva on its acquisition of 100% of Taiyo from the founding family shareholders and others. Takashi Ejiri, Masaki Hosaka, Masakazu Iwakura, Koichi Kusano and Katsuyuki Yamaguchi are singled out for praise, and Hideki Matsushima and Satoshi Ogishi are also recommended.

Anderson Mori & Tomotsune’s ‘extremely efficient and pragmatic’ team provides ‘outstanding value for money’. The team advised on the acquisition of Asahi Tec Corporation through a two-step tender offer by Unison Capital. It also acted on the three-way merger of AIG Edison Life Insurance Company, the Gibraltar Life Insurance Co and AIG Star Life Insurance Co, and was involved in the post-takeover merger of CSK Corporation and Sumisho Computer Systems Corporation. Akira Kawamura, who ‘takes a high-level approach’, is recommended, as are Osamu Hirakawa, Kenichi Masuda, Masaakira Kitazawa, Tsutomu Miyano and Hiroki Kodate. James Minamoto has ‘the means and ability to combine a Japanese and Western approach to an international investment to provide a win/win solution for all’.

‘An outstanding firm providing premier M&A as well as regulatory work in Japan’, Atsumi & Sakai’s corporate team, led by Miho Niunoya, advises on M&A, alliances and partnerships between companies, the defence of hostile takeover bids, and due diligence relating to corporate and commercial deals. It recently advised on the restructuring of a servicer company following a bank failure. Yuri Suzuki and Shuji Koyama are recommended, as is Hiroki Mori, who advises on restructuring and bankruptcy matters.

New to the ranking, Hibiya-Nakata advises Japanese corporations on outbound, inbound and purely domestic M&A, and also handles cross-border commercial transactions.

TMI Associates acted for Santen Pharmaceutical on its acquisition of a majority stake in Novagali Pharma and advised Mitsubishi on the proposed reorganisation of its European holding structure through the merger of its Dutch and UK holding companies. Tatsuhiro Takahara, Masaya Hirano, Nobuyuki Watanabe and Yoshihiko Fuchibe are recommended. Kunio Namekata is an experienced corporate and restructuring practitioner. The firm continues to broaden its reach through associations with Simmons & Simmons LLP in the UK, Morgan Lewis in the US and Arqis Rechtsanwälte in Germany, to name but three.

City-Yuwa Partners is notable for its German practice, which is led by experienced corporate and commercial partner Mikio Tanaka, who is fluent in German, English and Japanese. Masaaki Sawano has particular experience in advising on bankruptcy law.

Endeavour Law Office has particular expertise in corporate and commercial matters relating to the technology sector. Naoko Mizukoshi, who used to work at Microsoft, and Yasuko Teraura are recommended.

Hayabusa Asuka Law Offices’ Kunihiro Sumida is a strong corporate lawyer. Kazuhide Akashi specialises in corporate management issues. Kaoru Takamatsu is well known for his corporate law knowledge, particularly in IP-related matters.

Momo-o, Matsuo & Namba is famed for its expertise in corporate governance, and the practice also spans day-to-day corporate advice, M&A, private equity, funds and venture capital issues. Makoto Matsuo and Suichi Namba are experienced lawyers.

At Oh-Ebashi LPC & Partners, Shiro Kuniya has an impressive market reputation for M&A, joint ventures and international trade and transactions. He is president of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association.