Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. – Investment by Xi’an Manareco New Materials Co., Ltd. in Idemitsu Electronic Materials (China) Co., Ltd.
Nishimura & Asahi advised Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. [TSE: 5019] on an investment in its Chinese subsidiary, Idemitsu Electronic Materials (China) Co., Ltd., by Xi’an Manareco New Materials Co., Ltd. [SHA: 688550], a fine chemicals producer.
The Nishimura & Asahi team advising Idemitsu Kosan was led by partners Yuki Oi, Takashi Nomura, Takeshi Nemoto, Satoshi Niki and Kazumaro Kobayashi.
People
He has handled mainly China's legal affairs for more than 20 years, and has a wealth of experience advising numerous Japanese companies investing in China, Chinese-related M&As, corporate restructuring and withdrawal, crisis management, intellectual property rights, labor, litigation and disputes, and Chinese companies' investment projects in Japan. Having spent more than 10 years in Shanghai, China he has earned the trust of his clients thanks to his ability to solve problems in the field. He has written numerous books, papers, and lectures in the fields of Chinese legal affairs and intellectual property.
Takeshi has handled many complex M&A transactions and provides sincere advice to his clients. He has extensive experience in M&A-related disputes, and is well versed in the various issues facing companies with founding family shareholders. In recent years, he has been involved in many cases involving business and human rights, impact investing, and advises companies from the perspective of sustainability. He is also actively involved in pro bono work and is one of the most experienced in Japan.
Satoshi manages a wide range of domestic and cross-border M&As, capital and business alliances and technology alliances where intellectual property rights and technologies, such as semiconductors, autonomous driving, electric vehicles, AI, and systems, were important elements to the transaction. Satoshi is also heavily involved in supporting high-tech startups such as space development, quantum computers, and regenerative medicine, and has extensive experience in contract structure ground design and contract negotiations for building new businesses. In addition, Satoshi makes use of his engineering background to deal with a number of disputes, such as patent infringement proceedings and disputes related to defects in advanced technology products, where technical issues are the main issues.
Kazumaro’s antitrust practice spans various industries, including automotive, energy, telecommunication, medical/healthcare and finance. Kazumaro regularly represents clients in high-profile matters, including merger and acquisitions that require approval in multiple jurisdictions, and global and domestic cartel investigations.
Yuki Oi is a partner in our M&A/Corporate practice group. He advises domestic and international corporations and financial institutions on their cross-border and domestic M&A transactions. He also handles corporate governance matters and general corporate issues, as well as corporate crisis management matters and commercial litigation.
Some of the major cases he has advised on include representing UFJ Holdings on its integration with Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group (2006), Bulldog Sauce on its famous defense against a hostile takeover attempt initiated by Steel Partners (2007), the Osaka Securities Exchange on its integration with the Tokyo Stock Exchange (2011), Idemitsu Kosan on its integration with Showa Shell Sekiyu (2015-19), Toshiba on its divestiture of Toshiba Memory Corporation (2018), and Honda on its strategic alliance with Sony Group in mobility sector (2022).
He was awarded the Young Lawyer of the Year Award at the ALB Japan Law Awards 2019, and the Innovative Practitioners Award at the FT Innovative Lawyers Awards Asia-Pacific 2020. He was also selected as one of Asia’s top 40 lawyers under 40 by Asian Legal Business in 2017.
He has also served as a lecturer at the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Law (2012-13), and Graduate Schools for Law and Politics (2014-present).