Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. - Establishment of a holding company and share transfer

Kozo’s anti-trust/competition practice covers every area of the practice, i.e., violation cases such as cartel and unilateral conduct, merger regulations, and compliance to prevent violations of Japanese and foreign competition laws. Kozo continues to be recognized by international law journals as one of the top practitioners in Japan in the area of competition law. He has handled large scale international cartel cases and has contributed to the realization of prominent merger regulations. In the area of international trade law, Kozo is widely recognized as a pioneer of trade law practice in Japan and has advised both the private sector and governmental agencies. He has been involved in most of the trade remedy investigations, such as those for the imposition of anti-dumping duties and subsidy countervailing duties as counsel to Japanese and foreign clients, and in some overseas trade remedy investigations to defend Japanese clients. In addition, Kozo’s practice covers international disputes, corporate crisis management, and regulatory investigations.

Ryutaro Nakayama specializes in General Corporate and M&A work, and advises clients on a broad range of issues and transactions relating to M&A, Japanese corporate, securities, tax, and merger control laws, and regulations specific to various industries. He is a leading lawyer in the field of competition law in Japan, and possesses a unique set of skills and experience, drawn from his extensive experience handling M&A, corporate, and merger control cases and transactions. He has obtained transaction clearances from competition authorities even where the resulting combined market share exceeded 50% in the relevant markets. He has led Nishimura & Asahi’s Africa Practice Team since its formation in 2014. He has established a strong network of connections with Japanese entrepreneurs and businesses that target the African continent, as well as with leading law firms based in Africa. He has been named a leading lawyer in the fields of Corporate/M&A and/or competition law by various publications, including Chambers Global, Chambers Asia-Pacific, and The Nikkei’s annual rankings of “Most Successful Lawyers.” He was appointed the Managing Partner of Nishimura & Asahi in April 2021.

Tokuhiro Matsunaga has handled a wide variety of cross-border M&A transactions in Asia and other regions. Recently, he has been focusing on the expansion of N&A’s Thai legal practice, and provides hands-on support to both Japanese and international clients that invest or are located in Thailand. He advises clients from both corporate/M&A and competition law perspectives, and has prevailed in a broad range of complicated cases, such as M&A transactions that involve serious antitrust issues. In addition, he has extensive experience with competition law investigations by the Japanese Fair Trade Commission, as well as investigations by other competition authorities in more than 15 countries. He also advises on other legal practice areas, including corporate governance, shareholders’ meetings, countermeasures against hostile takeovers and shareholder activism, compliance enhancement, internal investigations, and whistleblowing cases. He is adept at precisely understanding clients’ needs, and works carefully and efficiently to achieve the optimal outcomes for his clients.