Withers Japan, Zeirishi Houjin > Tokyo, Japan > Firm Profile

Withers Japan, Zeirishi Houjin Offices

Withers Japan, Zeirishi Houjin
Withers Gaikokuhou Jimu Bengoshi Houjin
21F JA Building
1-3-1 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
100-6821
Japan
Visit website 86 21 6080 0909

Withers Japan, Zeirishi Houjin > The Legal 500 Rankings

Japan > Real estate and construction: International firms and joint ventures Tier 2

Withers Japan, Zeirishi Houjin’s real estate practice remains active in the digital infrastructure space and continues to specialise in green financings. Gerald Fujii focuses on advising real estate investment funds, REITs, and lenders on cross-border acquisitions, financings, and development projects. Naoki Ueyama is noted for his experience acting for Japanese and international investors and financial institutions in real estate finance transactions. Toshihiko Tsuchiya’s practice covers the securitisation and liquidation of real estate assets, including TMK-structured development deals. Akinari Nakano is also a key contact in the group. Steven Wheeler left the practice in 2023.

Practice head(s):

Gerald Fujii; Naoki Ueyama; Toshihiko Tsuchiya

Other key lawyers:

Akinari Nakano

Testimonials

‘Toshihiko Tsuchiya and Akinari Nakano are very experienced business lawyers, offering extensive experience in protecting our legal/business interests and handling complex real estate acquisition/ financing transactions in an efficient way. Both have been involved in numerous transactions for our platform in Japan and have resolved complex issues.’

‘Tsuchiya Toshihiko from Withers has demonstrated his ability to balance legal considerations and practical business considerations. He is able to provide clear, actionable advice that directly aligns with clients’ business interests, making the transaction smooth and efficient. His pragmatic approach and thorough understanding of the commercial real estate market is invaluable.’

‘The team seems to have ample experience in Japanese real estate transactions.’

‘Their experience and knowledge is extensive in Japan’s real estate space and they respond quickly to resolve complicated transaction and business needs. Lawyers are flexible and considering their experience, their fee levels are reasonable. ’

‘A reliable and experienced team with expertise and knowledge in a very wide range of fields. The team culture is very entrepreneurial and open to new challenges and ideas which helped us make investments in new market and new sectors in Japan.’

‘Very talented and seasoned individuals mixed with young and energetic talents supporting.’

‘This practice stands out for its client-centric approach. The team has extensive experience and understanding in the commercial real estate in Japan. Their turnaround time for critical documents is above clients’ expectations, and it also demonstrates the team’s commitment to meeting tight timelines and maintaining high service standards.’

Key clients

Alyssa Partners Japan

Capital Land

CLSA Capital

Deutsche Bank

JP Morgan

LaSalle Investment Management

Maiora Asset Management Pte Ltd

Mapletree Investments

Morgan Stanley

Nuveen

PAG Investment Management Ltd.

Shinsei Bank

Starwood Capital Asia Limited

Work highlights

Japan > Tax: International firms and joint ventures Tier 2

Withers Japan, Zeirishi Houjin continues to offer a strong tax service in Japan. With over 30 years of experience handling international tax planning and corporate tax advisory matters, including tax planning involving investment funds, M&A, real estate investments, data centres, and renewable energy projects, Eric Roose leads the group. A key name to note for high-net-worth individuals seeking assistance with Japanese tax planning, Kohei Kobayashi advises on a broad range of transactions, including real estate investments, restructurings, and M&A.

Practice head(s):

Eric Roose

Other key lawyers:

Kohei Kobayashi; Erin Gutierrez; Tomoyuki Nakamichi

Key clients

PAG Real Assets SCREP VIII Fund

Pacific Alliance Group REN I fund

PAG Real Estate Property Fund III

FLOW Digital Infrastructure

Work highlights

  • Advised the PAG sponsored SCREP VIII on an opportunistic real estate investment vehicle.
  • Advised PAG REN I fund as the lead tax counsel for the overall fund structure.
  • Acted as lead tax counsel for Pacific Alliance Group’s $2.8bn APAC real estate fund.

Japan > Investment funds: International firms and joint ventures Tier 3

Withers Japan, Zeirishi Houjin > Firm Profile

The firm:Withers is one of the world’s first international law firms dedicated to the business, personal and philanthropic interests of successful people, their businesses, families and advisers. With over 220 partners and more than 1,500 staff members in 17 offices across Europe, US, Asia Pacific and the Caribbean, Withers has unparalleled expertise in the key legal issues facing individuals, their businesses and their families. Its clients’ interests span 80 countries and the firm has acted for 74% of the top 100 UK ‘Sunday Times Rich List’, and a significant number of the US ‘Forbes List’ of Richest Americans and the Asian ‘Hurun Rich List’.

Established in 2015, the Tokyo office has a team of leading lawyers with more than 20 years of experience working in Asia, equipped with the experience to advise Japan’s most prominent companies and international corporations on inbound and outbound cross-jurisdictional transactions. The team is also uniquely positioned to provide tax advice and are specialists in structuring foreign investment funds investing into Japan real estate, serving as the leading adviser to major fund groups.

Tokyo is also one of the cities with the largest number of millionaire residents, and the lawyers are equipped with the expertise to provide private client work with Withers being the go to firm for a number of private banks.

Areas of practice
Tax:  Withers has a fully diversified tax practice in Tokyo and provides domestic and international businesses, both publicly or privately owned, tax efficient strategies and advice in many areas including:

  • Pre-sale/IPO tax planning
  • Mergers and acquisition tax advice
  • Cross-border transactions
  • Partnership, corporation and other entity planning
  • Tax compliance
  • IP licensing / sponsorship agreements

Working closely with tax lawyers based in the other 18 offices, Withers Japan provides clients with a deep level of local expertise while bringing a global perspective.

Investment funds: The investment funds team in Tokyo has seven professionals with extensive experience, forming one of the premier investment funds and investment management practices in Japan. As a full service firm, Withers provides fund sponsors and investors advice on all funds and multi-jurisdictional related matters, including:

  • Investment management arrangements
  • Fund structuring and formation
  • Private equity funds
  • Private placement and fund collective vehicle documentation
  • Regulatory and securities law advice

Real estate: Members in the real estate team have consistently been regarded as leading practitioners in the field. The team advises clients at all stages of inbound and outbound real estate investment cycles, from leasing, sales, asset acquisitions, acquisition finance, to fund formation, public offerings and restructurings. Clients include investment banks, commercial banks, lenders, developers, institutional investors, private equity funds, pension funds and advisers, REITs and multinational corporations.

Legal services Wither’s lawyers advise on include:

  • Real estate related M&A
  • Real estate private equity
  • Real estate financing, structured finance and acquisition finance
  • Real estate investment trusts (REITs)

Corporate M&A: Withers’ corporate lawyers have significant cross-border M&A experience. We have helped local and foreign investors acquire assets and deal with ongoing operational issues.

Our corporate team in Asia advises companies, corporate groups and entrepreneurs on every aspect of their commercial arrangements and business affairs, from start-up to international expansion, restructuring and disposal. Working alongside our overseas partners in the United States and Europe, we can provide seamless international commercial law advice to clients across a wide range of business sectors. We can advise companies and their key stakeholders at each stage of the business lifecycle.

Private client: Withers has one of the largest international private client legal teams in Asia, enabling it to provide a wide range of services in multiple languages in the same time zone as its clients, making the legal advice both cost-and time-efficient. This has also enabled the firm to respond to client needs by forming dedicated teams to service entrepreneurs, families, family offices, investment and private banks, trust companies, landed estates and the globally wealthy. Its substantial presence across Asia is further strengthened with offices in the US, Europe and the British Virgin Islands. What sets Withers apart from its peers is that its team typically acts for the creators of wealth and their families, and focus on developing long term relationships with those clients across its offices.

Main Contacts

Department Name Email Telephone
Investment Management Koji Yamamoto [email protected] +81 3 6810 2565
Investment Management Yoshiyuki Omori [email protected] +81 3 6810 2567
Real Estate Gerald Fujii [email protected] +81 3 6810 2563
Real Estate Naoki Ueyama [email protected] +81 3 6810 2564
Private Client & Tax Eric Roose [email protected] +81 3 6810 2561
Real Estate Toshihiko Tsuchiya [email protected] +81 3 6810 2562
Real Estate Hiroyuki Sakazaki [email protected] +81 3 6810 2568
Private Client & Tax　 Kohei Kobayashi 　　 [email protected] +81 3 6810 2573
Corporate Kazumitsu Goto [email protected] +81 3 6810 2307
Real Estate Akinari Nakano [email protected] +81 3 6810 2569
Corporate Yuko Zaha [email protected] +81 3 6810 2309

Languages

Japanese
English