Nishimura & Asahi Shortlisted in More Categories Than any Other Japanese Law Firm at The Asia Legal Awards 2024

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.

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.

Hideo’s practice includes a broad mix of acquisition finance, project finance, cross-border syndicated lending, equity investment, and other innovative financing products. Hideo also has strong expertise in banking and frequently advises financial institutions, inter alia, on matters including debt restructuring and banking regulations. Leveraging his significant experience in investment-banking matters, he regularly advices financial institutions, major companies and governmental agencies on various corporate matters.

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.

Yuji has been practicing in Singapore for more than ten years, since he was seconded to the Singapore branch of a Japanese financial institution. He advises Japanese financial institutions and regional headquarters of multinational corporations in Singapore and start-up companies on cross-border transactions inside and outside of South East Asia. With finance knowledge and experience, he handles a wide range of matters, including general corporate, business alliances, equity investment, finance transactions, joint ventures, startup investment, fund structuring, real estate investment, personal data and compliance. He graduated from a business school in the UK and provides flexible and creative solutions to his clients from a multifaceted point of view.

He advises on a wide range of merger-and-acquisition transactions, joint ventures, foreign direct investments, general corporate, international corporate finance, and restructurings. His expertise is advising, structuring and leading complex transactions both within and outside of Thailand. He regularly represents, among others, Japanese, Thai and international investors, international investment banks, international private equity investors, hedge funds and international corporations and financial institutions. His main areas of practice include public and private mergers and acquisitions (takeover rules), legal due diligence, joint ventures, fund raising, listings, block trades, stock exchange and securities exchange related laws, restructuring of shareholdings and general corporate advice. His additional areas of practice also cover banking and finance, renewable energy in Japan and Thailand, exchange control law, labor law, and debt restructurings. Before setting up the Bangkok office of Nishimura & Asahi in 2013, he worked with Linklaters for almost a decade. He is also a registered arbitrator of the Thai Arbitration Institute (TAI) with the areas of expertise in corporate M&A, joint venture, banking and finance, capital markets, debt restructurings and energy.

Apinya’s extensive practice covers a wide array of matters ranging from business set-up, domestic and cross-border transactions to day-to-day business operations, to name a few. Her clientele includes both local and international conglomerates, trading companies, aircraft operators, real estate developers, petroleum and energy companies, financial institutions, securities companies, venture capitalists, and fund managers. Well-read and a holder of law degrees from three different jurisdictions - Thailand, the United States and Japan, Apinya is able to leverage her international experience and cultural insights to effectively and efficiently resolve complex cross-border legal issues and provide tailored legal services and solutions to her clients. In addition to being a practicing lawyer, Apinya is regularly invited to teach business law at various prestigious universities in Thailand, and serves as a counsellor to the Ad-hoc Committee of the House of Representatives of Thailand for consideration of amendments to the Civil and Commercial Code. Her other notable achievements include being registered as a Barrister-at-Law, Attorney-at-Law, and Notarial Services Attorney in Thailand.

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.