Asahi Kasei Corporation: Joint Venture With Honda Motor Co., Ltd. to Produce Lithium-ion Battery Separators in Canada
Nishimura & Asahi advised Asahi Kasei Corporation [TSE: 3407] on the conclusion of a shareholders’ agreement with Honda Motor Co., Ltd. [TSE: 7267] to convert an existing Asahi Kasei subsidiary into a joint venture company to produce lithium-ion battery separators in Canada.
The Nishimura & Asahi team advising Asahi Kasei Corporation was led by partners Kozo Kawai, Nobuhiro Tanaka, Akira Iizuka and Hudson Hamilton.
People
Nobu Tanaka is a partner in our Antitrust and International Trade practice team dealing with merger control, cartel/bid rigging, monopoly, unfair trade practice and dispute related cases. Nobu has much experience in dealing with cross-border merger control, international cartels and cross-border litigation cases. Through his 3 years experience in the U.S., Nobu has a deep understanding of the legal, business and cultural difference between Japan and other countries and he has expertise in explaining Japanese laws in a plain manner. Nobu always tries to understand clients’ interest and clients’ businesses deeply so that he can provide better and flexible solution. Nobu has good reputation in deep understanding of industries and business. In addition to antitrust cases, Nobu also handles various non-antitrust matters, such as cross-border commercial litigation, internal investigation, white-collar matters and cross-borer corporate transaction and general corporate matters including advice relating to new business in Japan. He also has a good reputation in timely and efficient communication. Nobu has LL.M degree at Stanford Law School (2017) and J.D. degree at University of Tokyo School of Law (magna cum laude). Nobu is fluent in English.
Since joining Nishimura & Asahi, Akira has been involved in numerous corporate and M&A deals, including mergers, acquisitions, corporate reorganizations, capital and business alliances, joint ventures, and take-private transactions by PE funds. In particular, Akira has advised on many cross-border transactions. While seconded to ITOCHU Corporation in 2019-2020, Akira was involved in energy- and infrastructure-related transactions, and he has continued to advise on these transactions since his return.
Hudson regularly advises Japanese and non-Japanese clients in large, complex cross-border transactions, including stock acquisitions, asset acquisitions, private equity and venture capital investments, intellectual property agreements, joint ventures and strategic alliances. Clients value his communication skills, both in Japanese and English, and his dedication to producing successful outcomes.
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.