About the Office

Davis Polk’s Tokyo office, which opened in 1987, was among the first Asian offices established by the top Wall Street firms. The Tokyo office is staffed by two partners qualified in Japan as Foreign Special Members (Gaikuho-Jimu-Bengoshi) of the Daiichi Tokyo Bar Association and seven other professionals under their direct supervision.

The principal focus in our Tokyo office is on capital markets transactions and mergers and acquisitions/joint ventures involving Japanese and foreign enterprises. We also work on high-yield debt and acquisition finance, structured and project finance and credit and leveraged finance transactions as well as compliance and internal investigations, and a broad range of other corporate and advisory projects. We play a central role in the flow of major cross-border transactions involving many sectors of the Japanese economy with a particular concentration in technology and financial institutions.

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Recognition

  • In 2011, the Davis Polk Japan practice received Asian Law Business awards in the following categories:
    • International Deal Firm of the Year
    • Japan Deal of the Year
    • M&A Deal of the Year
    • Structured Finance Deal of the Year
    • Technology, Media & Telecommunications Deal of the Year 
       
  • Davis Polk was recognized by Chambers Asia 2010 as being "in the vanguard of capital markets work in Japan" and in M&A as "unsurprisingly best known for its work on large, complex cross-border transactions."
     
  • Davis Polk is ranked in the 1st tier among foreign law firms in Japanese capital markets (debt and equity) and mergers and acquisitions by IFLR1000 2012.
     
  • Davis Polk was named “Employer of Choice” among foreign law firms in Japan by Asian Legal Business (2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011).

Recent Matters

  • Chuo Mitsui Trust/Sumitomo Trust and Banking. We advised Chuo Mitsui Trust Holdings on its management integration with Sumitomo Trust and Banking. The transaction created Japan’s fifth-largest banking group by assets and an entity with an initial market capitalization of $14.7 billion.

  • Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group. We advised Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group on its registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission and listing on the New York Stock Exchange. With a market capitalization of approximately $41 billion, this was the largest NYSE listing since 2002 and the largest ever NYSE listing by a Japanese company.

  • Emerson/Nidec. We advised Emerson, a global technology company, in connection with the sale of its Motors and Appliance Controls businesses to Nidec, a Kyoto, Japan-based manufacturer of small precision motors.

  • Japan Single-Residence REIT/Crescendo Investment. We advised Japan Single-Residence REIT in connection with its $389 million merger with Crescendo Investment. The newly formed entity has approximately $1.5 billion in assets under management.

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