We are acclaimed in the Japanese market for our ability to create the innovative, cutting-edge structures required for today’s rapidly evolving domestic and multi-jurisdictional transactions – a key competitive advantage for our clients in the current climate.

Over the last 30 years, Linklaters has advised on many of Japan’s most significant transactions in the areas of mergers & acquisitions (including acquisition finance and general corporate advice); private equity, banking, projects, restructuring & insolvency, financial markets regulation, investment funds, capital markets (including derivatives & structured products, equity & debt capital markets and structured finance); and real estate (including real estate finance and securitisation of assets).

Recent significant transactions include advising:
  • Takeda Pharmaceutical Company on its £46bn recommended offer for Shire plc – the largest ever outbound M&A deal by a Japanese company
  • Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Nippon Export and Investment Insurance and six commercial banks on the US$1.4bn project financing of the 1.8GW Hamriyah gas-fired IPP in Sharjah, UAE
  • SoftBank Group on the US$93.15bn launch of the SoftBank Vision Fund – the world's largest ever private equity fund
  • the arrangers on Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation’s issuance of a €1bn covered bond of a €20bn covered bond programme, and subsequent issuances – the first covered bond issuance for Japan, whose unique structure used a Japanese trust to achieve dual recourse
  • Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, MUFG Bank and Mizuho Bank, as mandated lead arrangers on the ¥600bn senior facilities for Bain Capital’s ¥2 trillion (approx. US$18bn) acquisition of Toshiba Memory - the largest leveraged buyout deal in Asia and the largest Japanese inbound deal ever
  • ORIX Corporation on its US$2.2bn acquisition of a 30% interest in Avolon Holdings, a leading global aircraft leasing company based in Ireland
  • the international sponsors and lenders on a number of renewables projects in Japan, including the Oita, Mine, Sano, Nagi, and Nanazoshi solar PV projects, and two ongoing offshore wind projects
  • the lead manager on the international equity offering by Money Forward, a Japanese Fintech start-up focusing on cloud-based accounting software and personal finance management services, to offshore investors pursuant to Regulation S
Our renowned experience is recognised by the market:

"They are always helpful, even when things are extremely busy. We feel very secure working with them."
Band 1 – Chambers Asia-Pacific 2019, Banking & Finance (Domestic): Japan

"What separates them from other lawyers and firms is that they seem to have more of a commercial awareness of what a client wants." 
Band 1 – Chambers Asia-Pacific 2019, Capital Markets, Asia and Euro Markets (International Firms): Japan

"I'm very satisfied with their quality and capability. They have strong presences in Tokyo and London."
Band 2 – Chambers Asia-Pacific 2019, Investment Funds: Japan

Linklaters Tokyo is the business name of Gaikokuho Kyodo-Jigyo Horitsu Jimusho Linklaters, a firm organised under the Japanese Civil Code, which is affiliated to Linklaters LLP.