Getting the Deal Through - Renewable Energy 2018 (Japan Chapter)

Norio Maeda is a partner with expertise in transactions involving the acquisition and development of, the financing of, and investment in, Japanese renewable energy projects. He has represented domestic and foreign investors, developers, and lenders, including infrastructure funds, energy companies, and financial institutions from the U.S., Europe, and Asia in numerous green-field and brown-field projects. Norio’s practice also covers transactions involving acquisition and development, investment, and financing with respect to Japanese real estate assets. He is highly skilled at developing innovative investment and financing structures. He has represented domestic and foreign investors, including investment funds, financial institutions, investment managers, and developers from the U.S., Europe, and Asia, in numerous investment and development projects involving sophisticated structures. He also has represented lenders in numerous structured finance transactions involving real estate assets. Norio’s transactional experience includes establishment of Japanese investment platforms into Japanese real estate assets using the TMK and GK-TK schemes, as well as the restructuring of Japanese real estate asset investments. In addition, Norio has extensive experience in inbound cross-border financing transactions for the operation of multi-national corporations in Japan. He has worked on inbound financing transactions under global debt facilities for multi-national corporations headquartered in Asia and other parts of the world. These transactions have involved collateral consisting of various types of assets and have employed a wide variety of credit support structures.

Amane has extensive experience in a number of project finance transactions and acquisitions in connection with renewable energy projects in Japan and other Asian countries. In addition to his broad knowledge of the complex regulations surrounding renewable energy, he also has a deep understanding of IPP business reinforced by his work experience in London at a major Japanese trading company. His clients include domestic and international energy project developers, investors, lenders, construction contractors, and utility companies. He advises, represents, and advocates on behalf of clients in a wide range of transactions in the renewable energy sector, including development of green-field projects, debt and equity financing, selling and acquisition of energy projects, and legal due diligence. He also has a wealth of experience in offshore wind projects from the emergence of offshore wind business in Japan in the mid-2010s, including advising clients in the public tender process under the Offshore Renewable Energy Act.

Daiki has experience and knowledge in a wide range of business areas as a finance lawyer (such as project finance, infrastructure/PPP, securitization/liquidation, real-estate structured finance, and fundraising). He has worked for and been seconded to both financial institutions and a developer (overseas business development base of a Japanese trading and investment company in Dubai). In recent years, taking advantage of such experience and his knowledge of actual business operations, he has been providing practical and detailed support and advice to clients, mainly in the fields of infrastructure and energy (including the renewable energy sector), throughout from start-up to achievement of highly challenging projects and new businesses, as well as providing legal support to resolve various issues (including disputes) that arise during operation of the projects. In addition to his involvement in projects to support financial institutions, he has a particularly strong track record of involvement in projects to support developers, sponsors, EPCs, and suppliers.