Japan
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Capital markets: International firms and joint ventures

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Morrison Foerster

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Morrison Foerster’s capital markets group in Japan is praised by clients for its ‘deep experience in international capital markets’, with recent highlights for the team including advising British semiconductor and software design company Arm Holdings plc., majority-owned by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group, in relation to its $5.22bn IPO on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. With considerable experience advising issuers and underwriters on registered and unregistered equity offerings, Jesse Gillespie leads the practice alongside Mitsutoshi Uchida. Reiko Omachi and Hiroki Etani are key contacts. Akihiro Wani left the firm in October 2023.
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Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Jesse Gillespie is one of the most experienced lawyers in Japan. He and his team are adept at gathering information, and in our cases, they contributed to the issuer by pointing out how irregular a planned covenant was so that we could reach the right decision. Additionally, he is a skilled negotiator, effectively trimming unnecessary suggestions to change the language.’

  • ‘They have a global network bridging Japan and the US/EMEA/Asia.'

  • ‘Morrison & Foerster has deep experience in international capital markets and provided us with productive advice based on market practices and precedent deals they have executed. They are able to give well-balanced advice on what kind of information should be delivered to the market or included in due diligence questions.’

  • 'They fully understand our company's culture and business procedure, and they are very flexible. They are also fluent in Japanese, which is very helpful for us.'

Key clients

  • SoftBank Group Corp.
  • Nomura Securities
  • Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd.
  • CRE Logistics REIT, Inc.
  • SMBC Nikko Securities
  • Mizuho Securities
  • Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC)
  • Nippon Prologis REIT, Inc.
  • Barclays Bank PLC
  • GLP J REIT

Work highlights

Advised ARM Holdings plc on its $5.2bn initial public offering and listing on Nasdaq.
Advised international joint lead managers and Japanese underwriters on a JPY 50.3bn global offering of new investment units by Industrial & Infrastructure Fund Investment Corporation.
Acted for SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., Mizuho Securities Co., Ltd. and Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd. as underwriters in Japan Hotel REIT Investment Corporation’s JPY 12.2bn global offering of new investment units.

Lawyers

Practice head

Mitsutoshi Uchida; Jesse Gillespie

Other key lawyers

Reiko Omachi; Hiroki Etani