Mitsubishi HC Capital Inc. - Acquisition of CAI International, Inc.
Leading Japanese law firm Nishimura & Asahi advised Mitsubishi HC Capital Inc. [TSE: 8593] in connection with its acquisition of CAI International, Inc. [NYSE: CAI], one of the world’s leading marine container leasing companies.
The Nishimura & Asahi team advising Mitsubishi HC Capital includes partners Megumi Shimizu, Yasunari Sugiyama, Madoka Shimada, Tsuyoshi Ito Junya Kokaji and Nobuhiro Tanaka.
People
Yasunari Sugiyama is a partner in the firm's Asset Finance Group and Agri-Food Practice Group. In the finance area, his major and unique areas include financing of movables (lease, installment purchase and secured loan), supports for overseas expansion by financial institutions, acquisition finance and domestic and cross-border real estate transactions. In particular, he has extensive experience in proposing and implementing business plans and schemes available for each target jurisdiction taking into consideration the specific civil and commercial laws and financial regulations regarding the movables and real estates in Asian, European and North and South American countries and their entity-based and geographical applicability and coverage in terms of the overseas expansion of Japanese financial institutions. Further, in the agri-food area, he aims to provide legal services for the purposes of the introduction of smart agriculture, business expansion and diversification of financing sources, development and scaling of new business such as solar-sharing and onland aquaculture business, in each case while organizing the various laws and regulations applicable to each process of value chains of the agricultural, forestry and fishery business.
Madoka advises clients on various matters of competition law, including domestic and international cartels, bid-rigging, M&A transactions, investigations by the JFTC, leniency applications and general antitrust law compliance. She is especially active in cross-border transactions. She has represented clients in connection with investigations into various global cartels, involving air cargo, marine hoses, TFT-LCDs, airlines, and bearings, and also in various merger-control cases, including a vertical integration between semiconductor equipment manufacturers, and major global merger transactions in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. She has particular strength and experience handling IT-industry mega deals. Madoka is also active in advising in the international trade area, in particular, government procurement and export control. In addition, she advises on laws preventing unfair competition, including trade secret cases. She served as lead counsel to Nippon Steel Corporation in multinational trade secret litigation against POSCO (a South Korean steel company), a landmark case in this area, and successfully negotiated a favorable settlement for her client. She was a member of the Subcommittee on Unfair Trade Policies and Measures of the Industrial Structure Council at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry from 2013 to 2023.
Tsuyoshi Ito has significant experience in tax counseling and tax controversies and has represented major corporations in numerous tax disputes and tax lawsuits. In March 2021, he won a significant corporate tax dispute that challenged a tax assessment of approximately USD 367 million in taxable income before the Tokyo High Court after a protracted seven-year battle. In August 2014, he won a tax dispute involving securitization transactions of domestic housing loans before the Tokyo High Court. In addition to excellent achievements in major tax disputes, he generally advises on domestic and cross-border taxation issues in various transactions, such as M&A, joint ventures, fund formation and equity/debt investments.
Junya handles every kind of M&A deal, whether listed or closed companies, domestic or cross-border, as well as general corporate matters such as shareholders’ meetings and corporate governance. He always provides accurate advice to clients at any time and earns their trust with flexible and dedicated support. In light of his strengths and experience, in recent years, he has been involved in large-scale and complex M&A deals and management integration projects of listed companies. He is also involved in a lot of investment projects by domestic and overseas PE funds. Additionally, with his experience working for law firms in Brazil and Argentina, he supports Japanese companies expanding their businesses to Latin American countries as a member of the Latin American Practice Team. He also has a rich network of law firms in Latin American countries.
Megumi has broad experience in M&A transactions (public and private deals), joint ventures, strategic alliances, going private, intra-group reorganizations, investment in startups, and other commercial transactions in various business sectors, including fashion, finance, healthcare, food and beverage, renewable energy, and auto parts. She also advises clients in general corporate matters, including corporate governance and various compliance matters. She is a member of the firm’s Life Sciences/Healthcare Practice Group, and she advises clients in connection with licensing, distribution, collaboration and other contractual arrangements based on her knowledge and experience in legal matters related to the pharmaceutical industry.