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Living up to its reputation as one of the country's top firms, Anderson Mori & Tomotsune saw another excellent year in transactions. The firm frequently advises many major international and domestic underwriters as well as international and domestic issuers.

Last year leading lawyer Akiko Kimura, along with Kazuhiro Yoshii, acted for the issuer in Nomura Holdings' $3 billion global offering of US dollar senior notes.

Another transaction which shows the capabilities of Anderson Mori's capital markets practice saw Hironori Shibata and Hiroshige Nakagawa combine to advise one of four large state-owned banks in China, Agricultural Bank of China, in its global offering in Japan last July. This landmark deal is one the world's largest IPO, and raised a record $22.1 billion in its public offering.

Kimura and Yoshii joined forces again for the biggest public offering in 2010 by a Japanese non-financial institution. The duo were legal counsel to the underwriters, including Nomura Securities, Goldman Sachs Japan and Mizuho Securities among others, in regard to the Japanese law aspects of Ipex's $6.11 billion global offering in August 2010.

"Tatsu Katayama is a very good lawyer," proclaims one rival, one among many to shower Mr Katayama with praise. Katayama, along with a 13 other partners, helm Anderson Mori & Tomotsune's securitisation and structured finance team. The market was quiet this year, further strained by the earthquake and tsunami, but the team managed to deliver on several notable transactions.

"The lawyers' advice is very precise, to the point, persuasive and easy to understand," says one client. "They are quick to respond."

Minoru Kobayashi and Naokuni Fukuda served as counsel to Sumitomo Life Insurance Company and its special purpose company (SPC) on its funds securitisation worth $859 million. Reflecting its lawyers' ability to develop novel structures, the team developed an innovative and complicated mechanism that maximised flexibility for mutual life insurance companies by using a "foundation funds securitisation structure". This transaction set precedent as the first securitisation case to include a call option exercisable by the SPC in the event that the company transformed into a joint stock corporation.

A number of Anderson Mori & Tomotsune's finance partners are highly regarded in the market. Of Satoshi Inoue, one banking client declares him "one of the best leveraged finance-focused lawyers in Japan". Numerous peers have touted Katsu Katayama as a stellar banking practitioner, with one singling him out as the "go-to guy for domestic derivatives". Fielding such talent is part of the reason the firm remains in the top tier. Others reasons include a strong portfolio of syndicated loan deals over the past 12 months and being widely recognised for its regulatory practice. Also, "the team's in-depth knowledge in cross-border transactions is very helpful," says a client.

Lawyers Dan Yoshimasa and Daisuke Yamaguchi acted as the borrower's legal counsel in the leveraged buyout finance for tender offer bonds over Japan Automobile Auction. The Anderson Mori team negotiated with the Kanto Local Finance Bureau on how to limit the contents of the borrowing certificate in order to avoid unnecessary disclosure. This deal was innovative and set a precedent for other similar deals to follow.

Receiving accolades from peers as a strong M&A firm among the domestic players, Anderson Mori & Tomotsune is a confident choice for this type of work. It boasts a deep bench of highly regarded practitioners including Kenichi Masuda and Tsutomu Miyano. This year, the firm was active on a number of interesting and high profiles transactions.

One to note featured Taro Tsunoda for VeriSign, which sold its identity and authentication services business to Symantec for $1.28 billion. Exemplifying the team's capability for cutting-edge deals, this was the first transaction where the "business transfer" exception to the mandatory tender offer rules under Japan's Financial Instruments and Exchange Act was applied. Another highlight saw Hiroki Kodate and Satoshi Inoue representing Kagawa Bank in its integration with Tokushima Bank.