Nishimura & Asahi is one of the leading Japanese law firms. The firm was originally founded in 1966 as Nishimura & Partners before adopting its current name following the acquisition in 2007 of the Kokusai Bumon (International Division) of Asahi Law Offices.
The firm is among the four largest in the Japanese market with more than 800 professionals and a presence in over 19 locations around the world, including domestic offices in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka, and overseas offices in Bangkok, Beijing, Shanghai, Dubai, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, New York, Singapore, Taipei and Yangon. The firm is also present in Jakarta and Hong Kong and is a member of international law firm network, Lex Mundi.
Focusses / specialisms
Nishimura & Asahi has a high reputation across the board in transactional work. It has the largest asset finance practice in the country and acts for both lenders and borrowers in acquisition finance. It also routinely picks up the best mandates available to the market in M&A, projects, private equity and capital markets.
Key clients
Key clients of the firm include Daiwa Securities, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, T-Garden, Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, Mizuho Bank, Nomura Capital Investment, NTT, SRE Holdings Corporation, and Rakuten Group.
Research period review: 33rd edition (2022/2023)
During the research cycle, the firm was active in banking, structured finance, debt capital markets, M&A and projects.
In the banking area, the firm was preoccupied with transactions including acquisition financing, asset financing, and corporate and syndicated loans. It is worth mentioning the firm was very active assisting clients in LBO financing in the energy, transportation and infrastructures sectors.
The capital market team continues to advise clients on equity and debt markets, including euro bonds, global bonds, samurai bonds, IPOs, follow-on offerings and PIPEs. The firm is also active in transactions in relation to hybrid securities such as convertible bonds and subordinated bonds, and J-REITs.
The firm’s corporate team was particularly active in advising domestic and foreign investors in acquisitions across multiple industry sectors such as financial services, healthcare, logistics, TMT and construction.
The firm expanded its project team with the arrival of partner Alexander Woody from White & Case Tokyo.
Deal highlights: 33rd edition (2022/2023)
Skymark Airlines Inc.’s ¥37 billion global IPO.
Bain Capital's ¥427.6 billion acquisition of Evident Corporation.
Hitachi Metals’ U$7.27 billion tender offer for common stock by Bain Capital.
KKR’s ¥670 billion acquisition of Hitachi Transport System.
The Seren Juno subsea cable network project.
