Nishimura & Asahi Receives Outstanding Results at ALB Japan Law Awards 2024

Kozo’s anti-trust/competition practice covers every area of the practice, i.e., violation cases such as cartel and unilateral conduct, merger regulations, and compliance to prevent violations of Japanese and foreign competition laws. Kozo continues to be recognized by international law journals as one of the top practitioners in Japan in the area of competition law. He has handled large scale international cartel cases and has contributed to the realization of prominent merger regulations. In the area of international trade law, Kozo is widely recognized as a pioneer of trade law practice in Japan and has advised both the private sector and governmental agencies. He has been involved in most of the trade remedy investigations, such as those for the imposition of anti-dumping duties and subsidy countervailing duties as counsel to Japanese and foreign clients, and in some overseas trade remedy investigations to defend Japanese clients. In addition, Kozo’s practice covers international disputes, corporate crisis management, and regulatory investigations.

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.

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.

Nobuya has extensive experience supporting our clients in M&A transactions and other corporate matters, including general shareholders meetings, shareholder activism and corporate governance issues. In the M&A field, Nobuya represents our corporate clients in mergers, corporate reorganizations, privatization transactions and business divestures. He is also active in cross-border transactions, both in in-out and out-in transactions.

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.

Sadayuki has a wealth of experience in supporting international clients in projects, transactions, and businesses in the energy sector. Sadayuki advises his clients on the best solutions for achieving their business goals based on his deep understanding of the relevant laws and regulations and practices in the full energy supply chain. He also has expertise in carbon-neutral projects and businesses, such as renewable power projects and hydrogen projects, as well as pioneering businesses involved in recent developments in the electricity market and the regulations thereon. Sadayuki serves as a member of an industrial safety rules committee and a hydrogen safety strategy committee, both of which were established by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, and also is a member of an electricity capacity market committee, which is part of the Organization for Cross-regional Coordination of Transmission Operators, Japan (OCCTO).

Lars’ practice is focused on commercial and investment arbitration. He has particular expertise in contentious proceedings involving post-M&A, commercial, manufacturing, construction, and distribution matters, in areas such as life sciences, automotive, and energy. Lars also deals with cases involving governments, and has advised foreign investors and sovereign states on issues of foreign direct investment and public international law, including related negotiations and investor-state disputes. He has been involved in more than 50 international arbitrations as counsel and arbitrator under the arbitration rules of institutions such as the ICC, DIS, SAC, NAI, ICDR, KCAB, JCAA, SIAC, and ICSID, as well as under the UNCITRAL Rules.

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.

Takenobu Tsuruoka is a Partner in Nishimura & Asahi's acquisition finance group. Takenobu has extensive experience in the debt finance area, with a particular focus on acquisition financing, sustainable financing, project financing and securitization. He has a wealth of experience representing global private equity funds in high-profile deals, and he has been active in advising Japanese financial institutions as lenders or arrangers on leveraged financing, project financing and securitization. He gives due consideration to the market practice when providing legal advice.

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.

Using the experience gained from being seconded to an asset management company, he has a broad range of experience in the field of real estate transactions and real estate finance, and his strength lies in his ability to provide advice in the areas of property transactions and property finance, where lawyers are not normally involved in practical correspondence, and to offer flexible solutions tailored to the client’s needs. In addition to the real estate field, he has knowledge in a wide variety of finance fields such as renewable energy projects, large-scale investment projects using Limited Partnerships, and new businesses utilizing leasing transactions. He also has extensive experience in insurance transactions and insurance regulation.

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.

Satoru has been engaged in M&A transactions, business alliance/collaboration deals including cross-border transactions since 2010. Also, Satoru was seconded to a legal department and a new business office of listed companies in Japan for 4 years in total, and he dealt with many transactions, such as investment and business alliance/collaboration from the sourcing of the transactions through to the negotiation of the agreement, implementation of the necessary procedures and PMI, and assessing the alliance effect after the closing. Based on this experience, Satoru provides multifaceted legal advice in a timely and flexible manner in accordance with the size and nature of the individual transaction.

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.

Yukihiko handles various types of labor law cases, including those relating to dismissal, termination of employment, recommendation for resignation, claims for overtime pay, reduction of working conditions, personnel transfers, harassment, employment of the elderly, working conditions for non-regular workers (equal pay for equal work), dispatch and disguised contracting, work accidents, claims for damages, unfair labor practices, and others.
He offers a range of options for resolution and focuses on devising effective, practical responses to each type of dispute, and he works in tandem with his clients to achieve optimal solutions for them by putting himself in their shoes.
Owing to Yukihiko, one of our firm's unique strengths is its experience with labor law issues arising from corporate restructuring.
Yukihiko is admitted to the Labor Legislation Committee of the Dai-ichi Tokyo Bar Association (2011) and the Management Lawyers Council (2018).