Baker McKenzie (Gaikokuho Joint Enterprise)‘s ’comprehensive offering’ is well-equipped to advise Japanese trading houses on merger control matters, with international cartel investigations also forming a key component of its workload. At the helm of the practice is Akira Inoue, who has notable capabilities in handling cartel investigation work. Hiroaki Nagahashi, who was promoted to partner in July 2024, is a specialist in cartels. Nagahasi regularly assists clients with global cartel investigations involving multiple jurisdictions. Other key practitioners in the team include Ryo Yamaguchi, who possesses a strong grasp of merger control and foreign investment regulations.
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘The firm has lawyers who have outstanding knowledge, experience and skills.’
‘Deeply understood our stance and practice in business and compliance, and gave us advice based on such understanding.'
'Junya Ae stands out.’
‘Their strength is that they have a global team and they can provide comprehensive information from any jurisdiction.’
‘Akira Inoue and his team always provide advice based on customers' practices and requests, and actively provide new information in relation to anti-trust and competition laws and authorities' enforcement.’
Key clients
- Sumitomo Corporation
- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc.
- FUJIFILM Corporation
- Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
- AGC Inc.
- Accenture PLC
- Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company
- Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group
- Hitachi Ltd.
- Sojitz Corporation
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation
- Nidec Corporation
Work highlights
Represented and advised NHK Spring and its subsidiaries in relation to the global cartel investigations for the disk suspension used for hard disk drive in the U.S., Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Brazil and Taiwan.
Advising a Japanese conglomerates and chemical manufacturers in relation to merger control/foreign investment review (FIR)/foreign subsidy regulations (FSR) aspects of its acquisition of urethane systems business of LANXESS Deutschland GmbH.
Represent and advise Sumitomo Corporation/Sojitz Corporation/Toyota Tsusho Corporation in relation to merger control aspects of Sumitomo/Sojitz's important M&A/investment projects.
Lawyers
Hall of Fame
The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.
Next generation partners: Bengoshi
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
Practice head
Akira Inoue
Other key lawyers
Hiroaki Nagahashi; Ryo Yamaguchi