Ropes & Gray bolsters its M&A advisory capability in Asia with the hiring of Richard Perks, a Japan-educated M&A specialist and formerly at Freshfields, as a Hong Kong-based partner for its private equity practice.
Tokyo-based Asia regional managing partner Tsuyoshi Imai told Asia Business Law Journal that the firm was seeing a significant uptick in Japan and India deals for financial investors.
“Based on discussions with clients and other market players, that (uptick) appears to be a longer-term trend, so we are just reaffirming our commitment in regions and industries in which the firm has a significant or dominant presence.”
Perks, Imai added, was a very high calibre lawyer and “old Japan hand”.
“We are very glad to have him join our team,” Imai said.
Before joining Ropes & Gray, Perks practised as a partner for about a decade at Freshfields and had led multiple transactions, including co-leading a cross-border team advising Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics on acquiring a 75% stake in DiaSys Diagnostic Systems.
With more than two decades’ experience advising clients on public and private acquisitions, joint ventures and financing in Asia and around the world, he has set a personal record of leading international deals. One such high-profile cross-border transaction was Geely’s USD9 billion acquisition of a 9.69% stake in Daimler, the largest Chinese investment in Germany.
As a solicitor admitted in Hong Kong and England and Wales, Perks received his legal education in Japan having attended Osaka University’s Graduate School of Law and University of Tokyo’s Graduate Schools for Law and Politics.
The firm said that while Perks was based in Hong Kong, he would have a regular presence in Tokyo as a key member of the team supporting Japanese clients.
