DLA Piper has expanded its Tokyo office with the addition of an investment funds team from Withers, and two new partners among them empowering the global law firm with more than 20 years of expertise, as well as having Japan and US law capabilities.
Masahiko Ishida, DLA Piper’s Japan managing partner based in Tokyo, told Asia Business Law Journal that his firm had received strong demand from both international and domestic fund clients seeking a more integrated legal service that not only covered the investment side, but also extended to fund information and fund management in Japan.
At the same time, Ishida said real estate clients had similarly requested comprehensive, one-stop support, with Japan’s real estate market remaining very active and the firm having seen a notable increase in investment transactions in this space.
“To respond to these needs, we have established a dedicated investment funds team in our Tokyo office, allowing us to provide a fully integrated service offering that supports our clients across the entire fund life cycle,” said Ishida, who also serves as DLA Piper’s Japan head of corporate.
All these needs, Ishida added, were against the backdrop of continuous investment opportunities, particularly in high-growth sectors such as technology and life sciences, as well as in M&A including carve-out transactions.
Joining DLA Piper from Withers are partners Koji Yamamoto and Yoshiyuki Omori, along with of counsel Wataru Sasaki, associates Hiroki Hosoda and Matthew Shiota as well as paralegals Hirokazu Miyamoto and Noriko Narahara.
In 2018, Yamamoto and Omori left Deloitte with their team members from the global accounting firm to join Withers as Tokyo-based partners for the UK firm’s investment management team.
Japan and New York-qualified Omori and New York-qualified Yamamoto, together with their team, advise both domestic and international funds as well as financial institutions on their activities in Japan. Assisting with capital raising and trading on Japanese exchanges to financial registration applications, they have acted as both lead counsel and Japan counsel for fund managers establishing offshore and onshore investment funds.
