Honda Motor Co.: Agreement to establish a joint venture company in Indonesia with Panasonic Corporation
Leading Japanese law firm Nishimura & Asahi advised Honda Motor Co. (“Honda”) [TSE: 7267] on its agreement with Panasonic Corporation [TSE: 6752] and Pacific Consultants Co., Ltd. to establish a joint venture company in Indonesia.
Indonesia faces air pollution associated with an increase in traffic volume, and to address this issue, the Indonesian government has announced its support for the widespread use of electric mobility products. The joint venture company will conduct research in Indonesia on battery sharing using the Honda “Mobile Power Pack” detachable mobile battery. The Mobile Power Pack is expected to provide a boost to the widespread use of electric mobility products in Indonesia. Honda sells more than 20 million mobility products (motorcycles and automobiles) around the world each year and has a solid track record of developing environmentally-responsible products.
The Nishimura & Asahi team advising Honda was led by partners Ryutaro Nakayama and Yuki Oi, and counsels Yusuke Yoshimoto and Toshihito Yasaki, in collaboration with Walalangi & Partners, our associated office in Jakarta.
People
Yuki Oi is a partner in our M&A/Corporate practice group. He advises domestic and international corporations and financial institutions on their cross-border and domestic M&A transactions. He also handles corporate governance matters and general corporate issues, as well as corporate crisis management matters and commercial litigation.
Some of the major cases he has advised on include representing UFJ Holdings on its integration with Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group (2006), Bulldog Sauce on its famous defense against a hostile takeover attempt initiated by Steel Partners (2007), the Osaka Securities Exchange on its integration with the Tokyo Stock Exchange (2011), Idemitsu Kosan on its integration with Showa Shell Sekiyu (2015-19), Toshiba on its divestiture of Toshiba Memory Corporation (2018), and Honda on its strategic alliance with Sony Group in mobility sector (2022).
He was awarded the Young Lawyer of the Year Award at the ALB Japan Law Awards 2019, and the Innovative Practitioners Award at the FT Innovative Lawyers Awards Asia-Pacific 2020. He was also selected as one of Asia’s top 40 lawyers under 40 by Asian Legal Business in 2017.
He has also served as a lecturer at the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Law (2012-13), and Graduate Schools for Law and Politics (2014-present).
Mr. Yoshimoto has been engaging in general corporate legal affairs in Indonesia and other emerging countries for nearly 10 years. He was seconded to the legal and compliance departments of both the headquarters and U.S. regional headquarters of a major Japanese general trading company, as well as to one of the largest law firms in Indonesia. During his secondment at the Indonesian law firm, he was involved in a wide variety of matters, including M&A, finance, litigation, criminal matters, and insolvency proceedings. As a key member of the Indonesian Practice Team, he was able to develop a strong network of Indonesian lawyers, which he has been able to utilize, to handle cases efficiently and flexibly with due consideration to local customs and practices. He has also been involved in many M&A and crisis management cases in other ASEAN countries, such as the Philippines and Cambodia, as well as other emerging countries, such as Bangladesh and Brazil, during which he was able to draw upon his experience from his secondment to the trading company to the clients’ benefit.
Toshihito (Toshi) is a member of our corporate and M&A practice groups. He advises corporate clients, both Japanese and non-Japanese, on domestic and cross-border corporate transactions involving various industries and deal structures, including stock and asset acquisitions, mergers, corporate splits, group reorganizations, joint ventures, and strategic alliances. He has extensive experience in representing international clients in their investments into Japan and their ongoing general commercial transactions, as well as assisting Japanese clients with their investments and business expansions into Asia, Europe, the U.S., and other parts of the world, working closely with local counsel. He has a wealth of international experience, including living in the U.K. for seven years and three years in the U.S. Toshi also has expertise in providing strategic advice on other general corporate matters, including corporate governance, compliance, commercial contracts/transactions, and commercial disputes.
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.