Acquisition of Heroflon S.p.A. by Daikin Industries, Ltd.

Mr. Ota has a breadth of practical international and domestic legal experience, focusing on the areas of hostile takeovers, shareholder activism, M&A transactions (including cross-border deals), corporate governance and other corporate matters, domestic / international Tax, personal information / data protection, and works on a wide range of corporate legal affairs. He was selected as the NIKKEI "Most Successful Lawyers in 2022" in the corporate law category (1st), the NIKKEI "Most Successful Lawyers in 2021" in the corporate law (excl. M&A) category (2nd), and also the NIKKEI "Most Successful Lawyers in 2020" in the M&A category (1st) and the corporate law category (3rd). In addition, he dedicates himself to research and writing activities that bridge academia and practice on cutting-edge issues related to the Companies Act, the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, tax law, the Act on the Protection of Personal Information, etc. He has edited and authored many books and papers, such as “Schemes and Tax Issues of M&A and Corporate Restructuring, 4th Ed.”, “Corpus Juris M&A - Completely Revised Edition (first volume) (second volume)”, “Handbook on Share Options (Fifth Edition)”, “Corpus Juris Series - Personal Information Protection Legislation (Global)”, “Handbook on Class Shares”, “Nuts and Shell of the 2019 Amendment of the Companies Act and Practical Response”, “Legal Issues and Practices of Virtual Shareholders’ Meeting”, etc.

Hiromune specializes in domestic and cross-border M&A cases, including hostile takeovers defenses, and organizational restructuring. Hiromune also handles a wide range of compliance-related cases in different practice areas, such as accounting fraud and antitrust violation cases, fact-finding investigations by board members and various corporate authorities, and the establishment of prevention measures. In addition to his broad expertise in general corporate matters, Hiromune has been advising well-known Japanese listed and blue-chip companies on general corporate law cases such as data protection cases, corporate governance cases, and defense cases against shareholder activists. Based on this extensive experience, Hiromune is committed to providing comprehensive and practical solutions to support his clients aiming for further challenges and growth.