Overview
Hiroya is widely regarded as one of Japan’s leading corporate lawyers. He mostly advises Japanese corporates on their investments and acquisitions in Europe, Southeast Asia and the U.S., including having specialist knowledge of leveraged buyouts. He has accrued wide-ranging legal experience, including project finance, banking, securitisation and dispute resolution, that puts him in the position of trusted legal adviser to many of the firm’s clients.
Prior to joining Linklaters in 2005, Hiroya was in charge of project finance deals at Sumitomo Corporation between 1991 and 1993 and worked as a lawyer for the Japanese law firm Mitsui, Yasuda, Wani & Maeda between 1998 and 2004, during which time he was also seconded to Linklaters’ London office for a year.
Work highlights
Hiroya has led, or been a major adviser, on numerous landmark cross-border transactions. These include advising:
- ORIX Corporation on its €2bn acquisition of a majority stake in the asset management unit of Dutch bank Rabobank and on its US$2.3bn acquisition of 30% stake in Avolon Holdings, a major aircraft leasing company
- LIXIL Corporation and Development Bank of Japan on the €3bn acquisition of 87.5% of the Grohe Group
- NTT Communications Corporation on its acquisition of stakes from AXA Private Equity and other shareholders in Arkadin International, using a long-term incentives plan of shares globally, the first time this had been done in Japan using a company’s global shares
- Vodafone on the ¥1.8 trillion sale of its Japanese subsidiary, Vodafone KK, to SoftBank, at the time the largest corporate deal in Japan
- Takeda Pharmaceutical on its acquisition of Shire Pharmaceuticals
- Lehman Brothers on its acquisition of a real estate company in Japan, using a novel structure to squeeze out opposing minority shareholders that, for a period, became the industry standard until the law was changed
Education & qualifications
Hiroya studied law at Hitotsubashi University and holds a master’s in law from the University of California School of Law, Los Angeles, in 2003.
He speaks English and Japanese.
