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

Mr. Ota has a wealth 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 taxation, and personal information/data protection, and works on a wide range of corporate legal affairs cases. In the NIKKEI’s "Most Successful Lawyers" awards he was ranked in the corporate law category (1st) and the tax category (2nd) in 2024; in the corporate law category (1st) and the M&A category (1st) in 2023; and in the corporate law category (1st) in 2022. In addition, he dedicates himself to research and writing activities that bridge academia and legal 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 "Introduction to Corporate Governance" (Iwanami Shinsho), "Hostile Takeovers and Activists" (Iwanami Shinsho), “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”, 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.