Nishimura & Asahi Achieves Global Expansion and Highest Japan Rankings at IFLR1000 2024

Asa Shinkawa has been a partner in the M&A/corporate group at Nishimura & Asahi since 2001. She has a long and successful history of advising Japanese and international corporations and private equity firms. Ms. Shinkawa has advised on mergers and acquisitions, tender offers, cross border transactions, domestic acquisitions and divestitures and going private transactions, restructurings and spin offs, joint ventures, and numerous other kinds of transactions and commercial arrangements. Ms. Shinkawa has been recognized as one of the world's leading lawyers in the field of Corporate/Mergers and Acquisitions in Chambers Global - The World's Leading Lawyers for Business, since 2009, and is ranked as one of the top practitioners in Japan in the field of Corporate/M&A. She was awarded "Dealmaker of the Year" at the ALB Japan Law Awards 2022,  "Dealmaker of the Year, North Asia" at the ALB Women in Law Awards 2021 and "Woman Lawyer of the Year" at the ALB Japan Law Awards 2020, "M&A Deal of the Year” at the IFLR Asia-Pacific Awards 2022, "Private Equity Deal of the Year” at The Asia Legal Awards 2021 and "Legal Expertise: Creating a New Standard” at the Financial Times Asia-Pacific Innovative Lawyer Awards 2019, and has received many other accolades. In addition, she has advised on M&A transactions and integrations/business combinations between public corporations in which merger control considerations were a critical prerequisite for the consummation of the transactions. Ms. Shinkawa has also advised extensively on the application of antitrust law in relation to joint ventures, business alliances and other types of cooperative arrangements between competitors, sole-distributorship arrangements, distribution agreements, dealer agreements and license arrangements. She was engaged in the reform of the electricity system in Japan, as an expert member of governmental committees under the Electricity and Gas Market Surveillance Commission  and various committees of the Advisory committees for Natural resourse and Energy of the METI from 2015 to 2021.

Yoshinobu was promoted to partner in 1999. He has experience in NP loans, real estate transactions, and equity investment cases dealing with foreign capital funds and companies. In addition to domestic M&A and business integration cases, he has recently been engaged in many M&A and JV cases by Japanese corporations in the USA, Europe, and Asian countries. He has advised Japanese corporations on lawsuits in the USA and other overseas countries, and has extensive experience in the dispute settlement and risk management fields. He has won many awards in the Corporate/M&A, Private Wealth and Healthcare fields from business law reviews, such as Chambers Global and The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific.

Kei Ito is one of the leading partners of the Firm’s investment fund/asset management practice group. Mr. Ito has significant experience in various investment funds (ranging from traditional mutual funds to ETFs and to alternative investments such as private equity funds, and to climate funds and funds with a sustainable investment objective), providing asset management firms and other clients with regulatory advice, securities transactions, banking, derivatives, FinTech, structured finance transactions and a wide variety of other finance areas. Mr. Ito is very well versed in international finance transactions, catering to both domestic and international clients on various cross-border matters. Mr. Ito is also responsible for the Firm’s China practice.

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.

Mr. Ota has a breadth of practical international and domestic legal experience, focusing on the areas of hostile takeovers, shareholder activism, M&A transactions (including cross-border deals), corporate governance and other corporate matters, domestic / international Tax, personal information / data protection, and works on a wide range of corporate legal affairs. He was selected as the NIKKEI "Most Successful Lawyers in 2022" in the corporate law category (1st), the NIKKEI "Most Successful Lawyers in 2021" in the corporate law (excl. M&A) category (2nd), and also the NIKKEI "Most Successful Lawyers in 2020" in the M&A category (1st) and the corporate law category (3rd). In addition, he dedicates himself to research and writing activities that bridge academia and practice on cutting-edge issues related to the Companies Act, the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, tax law, the Act on the Protection of Personal Information, etc. He has edited and authored many books and papers, such as “Schemes and Tax Issues of M&A and Corporate Restructuring, 4th Ed.”, “Corpus Juris M&A - Completely Revised Edition (first volume) (second volume)”, “Handbook on Share Options (Fifth Edition)”, “Corpus Juris Series - Personal Information Protection Legislation (Global)”, “Handbook on Class Shares”, “Nuts and Shell of the 2019 Amendment of the Companies Act and Practical Response”, “Legal Issues and Practices of Virtual Shareholders’ Meeting”, etc.

Tatsuya Tanigawa is a partner at Nishimura & Asahi, and has represented Japanese and non-Japanese buyers and sellers in numerous cross-border transactions in various industries, including stock and asset acquisitions, private equity and venture capital investments, joint ventures, and strategic alliances. He has handled both inbound and outbound transactions, including many public company transactions. He is committed to finding solutions for his clients in any transaction.

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.

Hajime has extensive expertise in the area of corporate restructuring and insolvency, as well as securitization/structured finance practice (including concession transactions); especially known for his uncanny skills to see through complex issues and the web of differing interests of relevant parties, he is not confined to conventional thinking and instead strives to devise various new deal structures and provide new solutions. He also has an extensive practice in other areas of corporate finance and capital markets, as well as regulatory matters of financial institutions (including Basel accord capital rules). Having spent his youth in the U.S. and having studied abroad, he is fluent in both English and Japanese. He serves as the Firm’s CTO and is engaged in IT/DX-related matters, as well.

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.

Chris has been based in Thailand since 2001 and has more than two decades of experience working alongside Thai lawyers on cross-border M&A and regulatory matters, providing international-level solutions to companies entering the Thai market. His clients include global companies investing or acquiring assets in Thailand and Thai companies engaging in cross-border transactions. He advises international and Thai companies on the development, sale, and acquisition of renewable energy projects in Thailand and across Asia.

His M&A practice has included private M&A, advising institutional and activist investors on SEC/SET reporting requirements and acquisition thresholds, and strategic shareholders on synergistic de-layering of listed group structures. His sector expertise for M&A includes manufacturing, TMT, logistics, renewable energy projects, and the service sector for both buy-side and sell-side, share and asset sale transaction structures. He has advised overseas law firms on the acquisition of Thai law firms.

With a focus on renewables (including transition), Chris’ energy practice has more than 1 GW’s experience in onshore wind, solar (PV, thermal, ground mount utility scale, and C&I rooftop), and waste-to-energy projects. His experience has a broad reach, from due diligence of early-stage projects, advising on EPC/O&M, corporate PPAs, equity funding, and project finance, to pre- and post-commissioning exits and acquisitions.

Kentaro has been involved in a significant number of capital market transactions including Euro bond offerings, global bond offerings, IPOs, follow-on offerings and convertible bonds offerings, conducted by both Japanese issuers and foreign issuers, as the issuer’s counsel or underwriter’s counsel. In addition, he advises on compliance with Japanese disclosure and reporting requirements.

Kosuke Shibukawa supports both domestic and foreign banks, leasing companies, other financial institutions, airlines, and shipping companies in a wide range of financing transactions, including asset finance, banking, and acquisition finance transactions.
 In particular, in asset finance transactions, including domestic and cross-border aircraft, ship, and marine container lease and sale transactions, Kosuke provides advice based on his extensive knowledge and experience throughout the entire process, from structuring, documentation, negotiation, and deal execution, to ensure smooth transaction execution. 
 He has been involved in many cross-border project finance transactions, particularly for floating production, storage and offloading systems (FPSO), and floating storage and offloading systems (FSO), and advises a wide range of domestic and foreign financial institutions.

Sean Conaty is a project finance and M&A lawyer. He advises clients (including sponsors, borrowers, lenders and governments) on the development, financing, acquisition, and divestiture of greenfield and brownfield energy and infrastructure projects. His practice has a particular focus on cross-border investments into Southeast Asia.

Sean has over two decades of experience and an extensive track record of leading teams on some of the region's largest and most complex "first-of-a-kind" landmark projects, including in the areas of renewable energy (solar, onshore and offshore wind, geothermal, hydro), thermal power (including gas-to-power and LNG-to-power), waste-to-energy, LNG, airports, seaports, and water treatment facilities. His expertise spans project development work (including structuring and negotiating concession, offtake, and other project agreements) through to project financing (including structuring and negotiating multi-source financings involving MLAs, ECAs, and other financial institutions). He is ranked by leading directories including Chambers and IFLR.

Hiroko Shibata has extensive experience advising a broad range of Japanese and international clients on domestic and cross-border M&A transactions. She has excels at handling M&A transactions involving multiple jurisdictions, and those requiring complex, detailed structuring and implementation. She also handles numerous matters involving corporate governance, as well as employment issues, and has in-depth knowledge and expertise in the areas of executive compensation, employment benefit plans, and related laws and regulations, including taxation.

His extensive experience includes securitization transactions regarding a wide variety of receivables and other asset classes as a legal counsel for originators, arrangers, and trustees, and he has worked on structured finance transactions involving various schemes, including those achieved for the first time ever in Japan. He has a great deal of experience engaging in the development of new trust products and complicated trust schemes. As he has worked at the Corporate Accounting and Disclosure Division, the Planning and Coordination Bureau, the Financial Services Agency of Japan, and also has experience engaging in the planning of the financial regulations there, he has provided advice to many financial institutions, including banks, trust banks, securities firms, insurance companies, and nonbanks, as well as business companies and start-ups which enter the financial businesses. He also has a great deal of experience advising companies with respect to the application of the financial regulations on novel transactions or products, including FinTech areas. He has a wealth of experience participating as a member of various study groups and working groups, including government and academia conferences, and has frequently written and spoken on a wide range of topics involving legal systems and finance practice; thus, he is recognized as an opinion leader in the field of finance law.

Maya has extensive experience advising international investors on cross-border renewable energy projects, as well as advising both borrowers and lenders on financing for renewable energy projects in Japan. She previously worked in the cross-border project finance team of a Japanese megabank, handling matters relating to natural resources, power and energy, and infrastructure. Maya has also provided banks, financial institutions, and other corporate clients, most of which operate their businesses globally, with compliance and regulatory advice, as well as advice on a variety of governance matters. She is actively involved in D&I projects aimed at promoting the active participation of women, and has organized numerous D&I seminars and other similar events for corporations. She is also actively involved in Climate Change related projects and has organized Climate Change seminars and events.

Takashi is a seasoned finance lawyer with experience in various types of financing transactions, including acquisition finance/private equity, venture finance, securitization, real estate finance and asset management, having particular strength in crosscutting financial transactions. By integrating his abundant and wide ranging knowledge and experience, he regularly provides multilateral advice to domestic and international financial institutions, mezzanine investors, private equity funds, venture capital funds, real estate funds and asset management companies. In the field of acquisition finance, where Takashi enjoys an impressive reputation according to Chambers, Legal 500 and IFLR, as a core member of our acquisition finance practice, he has advised our clients in a large number of acquisition financing transactions such as LBO/MBO. His strength has been especially demonstrated in transactions having novel and complex structures. Takashi also has a wide ranging of experience in the field of venture finance. Representing one of the largest Japanese venture capital funds, he has advised on venture capital investments in more than 200 startups around the world including Japan, US, UK, Singapore, Canada, Israel, India, Netherlands and South Korea.

Ing-Chian is a lead partner of our Taiwan practice group. As one of the few Taiwanese lawyers based in Japan, she handles a wide variety of matters for clients that conduct business in relation to Taiwan, such as M&A, finance, real estate, competition law/antitrust law, IP, and other international legal matters.
Notably, she was the first Taiwanese lawyer ever to be registered as a Gaikokuho-Jimu-Bengoshi (Registered Foreign Lawyer in Japan) qualified to practice law in Taiwan. She is based in Japan, but serves as a Co-Representative of our Taipei office, and provides our Japanese and Taiwanese clients with seamless, timely legal support for both their inbound and outbound legal needs.

Nobuhiko Harada specializes in Japanese and cross-border asset finance transactions for aircraft, vessels, marine cargo containers, factory facilities, as well as other finance transactions for real estate, M&A finance, and DIP finance. He has vast experience of JOL/JOLCO transactions for aircraft, vessels, marine cargo containers, and other assets. He also has broad experience in insolvency and business restructuring (both in-court and out-of-court procedures) of various businesses including airlines, ship owners, hotel operators, golf course operators, real-estate business operators, trading companies and their subsidiaries in Asian countries. In addition to the abovementioned fields, he has expertize in airport business and the regulatory compliance of new businesses.

He represents clients engaged in a broad range of banking and finance matters, including real estate financing facilities, leveraged financing transactions, restructurings, project financing facilities and structured finance transactions. He also has expertise in representing foreign and domestic investors, funds, and corporate entities in various types of matters, including joint ventures, mergers, acquisitions, and investment transactions. In recent years, he has also represented clients engaged in many solar PV projects and other renewable energy projects.

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.

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.

Yamato’s practice area covers various M&A transactions, including cross-border M&A deals for stock consideration; shareholder activism; corporate governance, including officers’ remuneration and management of subsidiaries; disclosure; guidance for shareholders meetings, including virtual shareholder meetings; securities litigation; preparation of legal opinions; and development of new structures for share-buybacks using trusts. Yamato also worked at the Ministry of Justice of Japan for two years and mainly engaged in the reform of the Companies Act. Yamato is also known for his expertise in the latest trends in revision of corporate legislation, including the Companies Act and the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, by maximizing his experience working at the Ministry of Justice of Japan. Yamato has continued to work diligently on writing articles and delivering lectures with respect to corporate legislation and has shared his expertise with our potential clients in a clear, straightforward manner.

Teruyuki has extensive expertise in the areas of PPP/PFI, power and energy resources, and project finance. In particular, Teruyuki has extensive expertise in concession and other standard PFI and PPP projects as a public counsellor, and he provides advice on the public, business, and financial institution sides, based on the client's perspective. Teruyuki has also handled many project finance transactions for wind power generation projects, solar power generation projects, and biomass power generation projects under the Renewable Energy Act, both on the project side and on the financial institution side. In addition, Teruyuki has experience of being seconded to the natural resource and environmental finance department of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation（JBIC）, and he is able to provide practical advice on power and natural resource and energy projects.

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.

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.

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.

As a core member of our acquisition finance practice, Yuki regularly advises private equity funds and major companies (as borrowers) and banks, leasing companies and mezzanine funds (as financers) on M&A transactions. He also advises asset managers and financial institutions on fund formation, fund investment, subscription finance, and other day-to-day issues. He frequently serves as counsel to arrangers and originators in structured finance transactions, primarily those involving securitization of receivables and other assets. His extensive knowledge of his clients’ businesses and relevant financial regulations enables him to offer practical, well-balanced regulatory advice, including advice on the Financial Instruments Exchange Act and the Banking Act of Japan.

Nuttaros Tangprasitti specialises in corporate and commercial law. She regularly assists both international and domestic corporate clients (limited liability companies and partnerships, stock corporation in several industries) on the relevant laws of Thailand, which includes foreign direct investment, legal due diligence, M&A and cross-border M&A, joint venture, compliance, banking and finance. In addition to supporting clients on the above and a multitude of different legal formalities, she also has expertise in advising on various investment promotion policies of the Board of Investment (BOI), as well as compliance with foreign business, other laws on salient points for shareholders and joint venture agreements, which includes laws on immigration and foreign work under Thai law. Nuttaros speaks at many seminars and takes an active role in educating the clients on issues relevant to their businesses and her practice areas. She also writes various articles and newsletters on cutting-edge topics in several legal areas, which are widely distributed to existing and potential clients. Nuttaros aims to ensure the lawyers on her team are constantly developing and upgrading their skills, to ensure they meet or exceed the high professional standards of Nishimura & Asahi. She is committed to ensuring that both she and our firm deliver top-quality services to our clients and strong internal support for our colleagues. She recently began drafting a manual on several aspects of Thai law, as part of an “Investment promotion scheme,” and also wrote several newsletters on corporate law, and banking and finance laws. She also recently authored an article on the impact of Tax Reduction for Land and Buildings, which received excellent feedback from our clients, particularly those who are land and building owners. Nuttaros is committed to building a strong and progressive corporate and commercial practice, which also incorporates tax law, by adapting to new ideas in the legal industry.

Katsu has over 35 years’ experience working in the area of asset financing and trading transactions (including, structuring, negotiating, documenting and executing transactions). In particular, his practice focuses on aircraft/ship leasing, financing, and trading. He represents a wide range of clients, including leasing companies, banks, trading houses, airlines and investors, and other individuals and entities, and his key clients include a number of Japanese leasing companies, banks, and airlines. Katsu also regularly acts as a moderator and panelist at international conferences.

He specializes in mergers & acquisitions including legal due diligence, drafting, and executing and negotiating joint-venture and share transfer agreements; labor & employment matters including dispute resolution between employers and employees, and redundancy arrangements, etc.; the acquisition of various licenses for various business sectors; negotiations with Myanmar government authorities for various projects; and general legal research relating to Myanmar. He also has a wide range of experience advising on matters relating to telecommunications, logistics, construction, finance and dispute resolution. Kyi Chan Nyein has a broad network in Myanmar including with government authorities, through his involvement in various law-reform projects, research on Myanmar’s legal system, and his long-term experience in Myanmar. He is the recipient of several awards including Asialaw Leading Lawyers 2017 (Rising Star), Asialaw Profiles 2018 (Recommended Individuals), and Chambers Asia-Pacific 2022 (Associates to Watch).