Leading Japanese law firm Nishimura & Asahi has advised Ci:z Holdings Co., Ltd. (“Ci:z”) on its capital and business alliance with U.S. consumer health care company Johnson & Johnson.

Ci:z, the parent company of the Dr.Ci:Labo skin care brand, makes cleansers, exfoliators and moisturisers, including the Aqua-Collagen-Gel and Ever Bright ranges. As part of the deal, the rights to Dr.Ci:Labo outside of the Japanese market were transferred to Johnson & Johnson, which became Ci:z’s second biggest shareholder. Through its investment in Ci:z, Johnson & Johnson aims to strengthen its skin care business, in which Japanese manufacturers excel. The value of the transaction was approximately ¥3.5bn.

The Nishimura & Asahi team advising Ci:z was led by partners Hitomi Iwase, Yuji Shiga, Jiro Abe, Takeshi Nemoto and Kentaro Sugimoto.