KDDI Corporation: Acquisition of HashPort Inc. Shares
Nishimura & Asahi advised KDDI Corporation [TSE: 9433], a major Japan-based telecommunications provider, on its capital and business alliance agreement with HashPort Inc., a blockchain company, and on its acquisition of over 20% of HashPort’s shares through a third-party allotment of new shares. This transaction will result in HashPort becoming an equity-method affiliate of KDDI.
The team was led by partners Tatsuya Tanigawa, Yoshito Wakabayashi, Akihiro Shiba, and Toshihiko Hamano.
People
Akihiro Shiba represents a wide range of clients, including numerous financial institutions and FinTech firms, within and outside Japan, in connection with licensing, compliance and other regulatory matters (such as those related to banking, securities, derivatives, and payments regulations, FDI restrictions, and AML/CFT/CPF requirements), and domestic and cross-border financial transactions (including those related to structured finance and asset management). Since 2014, his practice has focused on various FinTech matters, including those involving various digital tokens (such as cryptocurrencies, securities tokens, stablecoins, and NFTs), online platform-based financial transactions (like social lending and other crowdfunding), and online remittance and payment services (such as mobile payments). He has written numerous books and articles, and given many seminars and lectures, on subjects relevant to his practice areas.
He graduated from the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Frontier Sciences (M.S.) in 2004. Due to his technical background, he advises clients on various technology matters, including artificial intelligence (AI), generative AI, data protection, data utilization, medical field, healthcare, software, systems, cloud computing, OSS, information technology, DX, and quantum computing. His time at the Akira Hirose laboratory at the University of Tokyo provided him with deep knowledge of artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI because he studied neural networks, which is the main technology of artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI. He successfully passed the Japanese patent attorney examination in 2002, and he has been admitted in Japan since 2009. He advises clients on various intellectual property law matters due to his technical background and knowledge as a Japanese patent attorney. Regarding dispute matters related to intellectual property, he has handled patent litigation, litigation regarding employee inventions and trade secret litigation, among others. He especially has considerable experience in trade secret disputes, and he provides a support service on countermeasures against divulging trade secrets, including drafting company regulations, data management practice, and employee training.
Tatsuya Tanigawa is a partner at Nishimura & Asahi, and has represented Japanese and non-Japanese buyers and sellers in numerous cross-border transactions in various industries, including stock and asset acquisitions, private equity and venture capital investments, joint ventures, and strategic alliances. He has handled both inbound and outbound transactions, including many public company transactions. He is committed to finding solutions for his clients in any transaction.