Oh-Ebashi LPC & Partners has deepened the firm’s tax expertise with the hiring of new partner Hidehiro Utsumi, a tax veteran who has advised on Japan’s largest leveraged buyout and tender offer, in Tokyo.
Management partners of Oh-Ebashi told Asia Business Law Journal that they expected Utsumi, who had joined from TMI Associates, to not only strengthen the firm’s tax practice, but also, from a tax planning perspective, to contribute to M&A and overseas investment practices.
Having started his legal career at Nishimura & Partners in 1996, Utsumi served as a partner at Linklaters and Allen & Overy (now A&O Shearman) in the first half of his legal practice. In 2009, he joined TMI Associates where he practised as a partner until his recent move to Oh-Ebashi.
As a tax and accounting specialist admitted in Japan and New York, Utsumi – who is also a certified public accountant in Japan and the US – has advised on some of the largest cross-border deals relating to Japan over the years.
In 2006, he acted as a lead partner in advising Vodafone on the M&A, tax and financing aspects of the sale of its Japanese subsidiary, Vodafone KK to SoftBank Group for JPY1.8 trillion (USD15.5 billion), making it the largest leveraged buyout and takeover in Japan to date.
