Nishimura & Asahi Wins Private Equity Deal of the Year at The Asia Legal Awards 2025

Since 2002, Hiroshi has been a partner in the firm’s M&A and corporate practice area. His experience ranges from M&A (business integration, acquisition and organizational restructuring between operating companies, acquisition of listed/unlisted companies by funds, going private, cross-border M&A, etc.) to general corporate law (general meetings of shareholders, corporate governance, various commercial transactions and contracts, financing, personnel and labor, response to legal revisions, disputes, crisis management, etc.). While he has extensive experience in large-scale and complex M&A transactions, he also provides efficient and effective advice depending on the status of the project in areas such as overseas M&A of Japanese companies, expansion into Japan by overseas companies, and support for startup businesses. In crisis management and dispute cases, he provide practical and effective advice to ensure clients achieve their goals based on a thorough understanding of the circumstances faced by the client. His clients are diverse, including domestic and overseas companies, financial institutions, and investment funds.

He has an extensive track record representing issuers, managers and selling shareholders in various capital markets transactions, incduling global IPOs, global follow-on offerings, convetibles bonds offerings, debt offerings, private investments in public companies (PIPEs), J-REITs offerings. He also has been active in fincance transactions by venture companies.

Tomohiro regularly serves as legal counsel to major financial institutions, trading companies, and energy companies on various projects and project finance transactions. His extensive experience with domestic projects covers a wide variety of sectors including renewable energy, IPP, grid connections, airports, water, and social infrastructure. He also has broad experience with international project financing transactions, including financing for LNG projects, mining projects, and refineries. Tomohiro is recognized as a leading project finance lawyer by Chambers Asia-Pacific, The Legal 500, IFLR1000, Best Lawyers and Who’s Who Legal. He was also named “Energy and Infrastructure Lawyer of the Year” at The Asia Legal Awards 2021.

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.

He joined Nishimura & Asahi in 2000 and has been a partner with the firm since 2009. His work is primarily in the field of finance. He represents lender and borrower side clients in a broad range of public and private financing transactions, with a special emphasis on acquisition finance. In this field he is recognized as a renowned practitioner with a high level of expertise and has advised on a large number of transactions such as LBO/MBO transactions involving both listed and unlisted companies, as well as on mezzanine financing transactions. He also has wide ranging experience in the area of structured finance, where he has been involved in numerous securitization transactions of a wide variety of assets including monetary claims, real estate and distressed assets. Furthermore, with his experience seconded to a merchant banking subsidiary of an investment banking firm, his expertise also extends to the areas of private equity and principal investment.

Experience in not only large M&A transactions but also mid-small cap M&A transactions, achieving efficiency and considering the internal/business matters within the client, from time being seconded to the legal department in a Japanese investment bank and full-time work in the client office. Experience assisting clients in a wide variety of industries; manufactures, retail, financial institutions, start-ups, etc. Successfully involved in several famous defense cases against hostile takeovers and activism campaigns. Provides legal advice in some crisis management situations and harassment investigations, accounting scandals and other corporate scandals. Such broad experience enables provision of strategic advice on various general corporate matters.

Tomohiro’s practice focuses on M&A, joint ventures, and general corporate matters, with a particular emphasis on cross-border transactions. In the area of M&A, he has advised on many acquisitions of foreign companies by Japanese companies, MBOs and other de-listings of Japanese listed companies, and mergers and other integrations between listed companies. In the area of joint ventures, he has advised on numerous overseas joint venture transactions between Japanese companies and foreign companies. Over the last few years, he has also been advising clients in the gaming industry, and is ranked in the Gaming & Gambling category of Chambers Global 2025 and Chambers Asia-Pacific 2025.

Hiroko Jimbo is advising on various M&A transactions such as acquisitions of private/listed companies, joint ventures, capital/business alliances and technology alliances, and general corporate matters such as support of foreign companies’ entry into Japanese market, with strengths in industries and transactions where technology and intellectual property are important, such as the business integration in the electronics and other manufacturing industries, telecommunication industries, license / franchise business.

She has strong expertise in Japanese Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regulations and handled numerous FDI filings. Based on the experience of various deals and the experience to work with government, she has unique insight to coordinate complex and difficult transactions that involve FDI elements. She engaged in discussion as a member of council and committees at the Japanese government level on the amendment to Japan’s Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act in 2020 and the implementation thereof. She has also served as an advisor for Council for Promotion of Foreign Direct Investment in Japan, Cabinet Office and actively supports the foreign investment promotion.

Nobuaki mainly handles financial transactions, with a particular focus on project finance transactions. He has a wealth of experience advising clients on PFI/PPP projects (including airport concession projects) and renewable energy projects (including offshore wind farm projects). He also has a broad understanding of Japanese renewable-energy related legislation. In the renewable energy field, he advises clients on financing and acquiring renewable energy power plants, financing plural power projects (portfolio schemes), and on developing projects using trust schemes (including financing through project bonds). In addition, he was previously seconded to a financial institution and trading company where he worked diligently on client-side transactions. He constantly strives to meet his clients’ needs and expectations by drawing upon the practical expertise and know-how he has acquired through his exposure to a wide array of legal transactions.

Yoko’s practice focuses on representation of life sciences and technology companies that develop and market pharmaceuticals, biologics, vaccines, diagnostics, medical devices, and digital health products. She specializes in corporate transactions involving complex intellectual property and pharmaceutical regulatory issues, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic alliances and asset transfers. In addition, she counsels clients on matters involving research and development collaborations, clinical trials, technology licensing, supply and distribution agreements, and co-promotion arrangements. She also advises clients in connection with privacy and personal data protection matters.

Mayuko is an attorney at Nishimura & Asahi (admitted in Japan and New York). Her practice includes corporate matters including M&A as well as international tax and tax dispute. She has experience engaging in tax treaty negotiations and domestic procedures thereof from her time as a deputy director at the Economic Treaties Division, International Legal Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan from 2017 to 2019.

Since joining Nishimura & Asahi, Masashi has handled numerous deals relating to capital markets, including global IPO and PO deals, corporate debt transactions, euro convertible bond offerings, samurai bond offerings, listings of foreign companies on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and third-party allotments. His abundant, practical experience, and prior secondment to a major financial institution, enable him to provide not only tailored legal advice and efficient support for a wide range of projects, but also specialized legal advice relating to the origination of projects with new features or structures. In addition to capital markets practice, Masashi actively represents clients in insurance transactions, including cross-border matters and those related to the Insurance Business Act; he is a member of our insurance team, and also engages in other financial regulation practice.

Keitaro deals with various cross-border M&A transactions, both inbound and outbound, backed by his experience working in U.S. and Australian law firms. He has an extensive track record of success in handling private equity deals, not only on acquisitions but also on exits. Further, his practice includes M&A generally, such as business integrations, carve-outs, and JV formation. Clients value his outstanding analysis, communication, and presentation skills beyond just language (both Japanese and English), which he leverages for successful discussions and negotiations with clients, advisors, and counterparties.