The Legal 500

Within Independent local firms, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto is a first tier firm,

Mori Hamada & Matsumoto has an impressive practice which advises the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) on competition policy. The team includes Harumichi Uchida, the chair of the Japan Competition Law Forum, and Kenji Ito, a former JFTC official, and the recommended Hideki Utsunomiya.

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Within Independent local firms, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto is a first tier firm,

Mori Hamada & Matsumoto is ‘very responsive to our legal needs’ and ‘provides excellent service’, and fields a team of well-respected and talented finance lawyers. The firm advised Bain Capital on its buyout of Skylark, assisted Softbank Mobile Corporation on its acquisition of Vodafone KK, and also advised Softbank Group on the acquisition financing of the Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome. Other clients include Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Softbank. Masanori Sato, Toru Ishiguro, LBO specialist Satoko Kuwabara, Eriko Ozawa and Takahiro Kobayashi are recommended for financing work, and Yukinaga Kojima is a regulatory expert.

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Within Independent local firms, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto is a first tier firm,

Mori Hamada & Matsumoto’s group continues to impress. The firm advised Softbank and its SPCs on a transaction in which SFJ Capital (a SPC and subsidiary of Softbank) issued the preferred securities to Japanese investors in a registered public offering. The firm also represented AEON Credit Service in a ¥30bn issuance of zero-coupon convertible bonds. Katsumasa Suzuki, Toru Ishiguro and Satoshi Nakamura are highly respected practitioners.

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Within Independent local firms, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto is a first tier firm,

Mori Hamada & Matsumoto rises a tier. It has extensive experience advising on PFI/PPP projects, and has a broad energy practice encompassing renewable and nuclear energy, as well as climate change issues. Takeshi Mukawa, who splits his time between Singapore and Tokyo, and finance partners Naoki Ishikawa and Takahiro Kobayashi are recommended.

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Within Independent local firms, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto is a first tier firm,

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.

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Within Independent local firms, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto is a first tier firm,

Mori Hamada & Matsumoto bolstered its presence in the region by opening an office in Singapore in 2012. The firm has a deep team of partners including Yoshio Iteya, Harumichi Uchida, Ryota Yamagishi, Kazuhiro Kanamaru, Hideki Matsui, Soichiro Fujiwara, Mugi Sekido, Katsuyuki Shibata, and Junichi Tobimatsu. The firm acted as the legal adviser for Nippon Television Network Corporation in a case involving a copyright infringement action brought by a North Korean administrative organisation and its Japanese licensee. It also defended Nissan Shatai in a case seeking an injunction against its client, and also defended the same client in a lawsuit in which the plaintiff sought payment of ¥10m from two former representative directors of the company.

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Within Independent local firms, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto is a second tier firm,

The ‘superb’ Mori Hamada & Matsumoto acted as legal adviser for Nippon Television Network Corporation in a copyright infringement case brought by a North Korean administrative organisation and its Japanese licensee. It also advised Sanyo on the sale of washing machine and refrigerator businesses and associated IP matters in Japan (and subsidiaries in other Asian countries) to Haier Group Corporation in China. Yuko Noguchi ‘knows everything about copyright law’: ‘her definite strength is that she understands public policy and how these discussions are formulated within the government’, and is ‘the ideal lawyer that a lobbyist would want as a partner’. Masayuki Matsuda, Yutaka Miyoshi and Koichiro Iida are also recommended. Tomoya Fujimoto left the firm to join the Walt Disney Company.

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Within Independent local firms, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto is a third tier firm,

Mori Hamada & Matsumoto’s employment team, which includes litigators and M&A specialists, advises on labour issues relating to M&A and restructurings, as well as on compliance issues and personnel or system changes. In accordance with recent trends, the firm has been advising clients on redundancies, management of part-time employees and temporary staff, and work-sharing. Takaya Chisako and Oda Daisuke are recommended.

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Within Independent local firms, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto is a first tier firm,

Mori Hamada & Matsumoto’s extensive practice advises on property sales and purchases; leasing and brokerage; office and commercial property developments; investments in real estate trusts in Japan and overseas; and land readjustment and urban redevelopment projects. The firm advised FC Residential Investment Corporation, a listed J-REIT, on its acquisition of another listed J-REIT, Ichigo Real Estate Investment Corporation, via a statutory merger. It also represented Japan Retail Fund Investment Corporation, as issuer, on its ¥21bn global offering (under Rule 144A, Regulation S offering and Japanese regulations). Other clients include Kenedix Residential Investment Corporation and Industrial & Infrastructure Fund Investment Corporation. Masanori Sato, Atsuko Matsui and Eriko Ozawa are highly regarded.

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Within Independent local firms, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto is a first tier firm,

The ‘attentive and flexible’ team at Mori Hamada & Matsumoto ‘knows how to keep clients happy’. The firm advised Softbank on the refinancing via a whole business securitisation structure of acquisition financing funds procured by Softbank Mobile to buy Vodafone KK. Masanori Sato, Toshifumi Ueda, Takahiro Kobayashi and Eriko Ozawa are recommended.

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Within Independent local firms, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto is a second tier firm,

Mori Hamada & Matsumoto focuses on tax planning and tax disputes arising from M&A and corporate reorganisations. It provided tax advice to Nisshinbo Holdings on its €440m acquisition of TMD Friction Holdings from Pamplona Capital Partners II; represented Bain Capital on the Japanese aspects of its acquisition of Physio-Control from Medtronic; and appeared before the Japanese tax tribunal where it successfully challenged the Japanese tax authority’s verdict that a transaction between a client and its affiliate was a sham. Atsushi Oishi is a highly respected tax adviser, and Yoshihiro Kojima is also recommended.

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