Paul Lee
Advises Japanese and international companies, financial institutions and sponsors on a broad range of corporate transactions.
Paul has extensive experience advising Japanese and international companies, financial institutions and sponsors on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, capital markets and other strategic transactions. He has represented clients in a wide range of industries, including major conglomerates, financial services, life sciences, manufacturing, retail, SaaS, fintech and digital assets.
Clients benefit from Paul’s familiarity with Japanese companies, having practiced in Japan for over seven years, as well as his knowledge of U.S. practice, having started his career in our New York office and worked in our Mergers & Acquisitions, Capital Markets and Financial Institutions practices. Paul is a native English speaker and fluent in Japanese.
Paul serves as Chair of the Alternative and Foreign Direct Investment Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan.
Experience
M&A / Private Equity
- ASMedia on its $390 million acquisition of Techpoint
- Nippon Paint on its $2.3 billion acquisition of AOC from Lone Star
- bitFlyer on its section 363 purchase of FTX Japan
- KOITO on its preferred stock investment in, and take-private of, Cepton
- GA technologies on its acquisition of Renters Warehouse in an Article 9 foreclosure
- JIC Capital on its $6.3 billion acquisition of JSR Corporation and $4.7 billion acquisition of Shinko Electric
- Relo Group on the combination of BGRS with SIRVA
- A Ferrero company on its acquisition of Ferrara Candy Company
- ABB on its $2.6 billion acquisition of GE Industrial Solutions
- Comcast on its acquisition of SportsEngine
- Anacor Pharmaceuticals on its $5.2 billion acquisition by Pfizer
- Atairos Group on its acquisitions of Bowlmor AMF and Learfield Communications
- Metalmark Capital on its investment in Reliance Gathering
Selected M&A matters before joining Davis Polk:
- Eppendorf on its acquisition of the centrifuge business of Koki Holdings
- Toray on its acquisition of Alva Sweden
- Knorr-Bremse on its acquisition of Hitachi’s commercial vehicle power steering business
- Seiyo Food-Compass Group on the spinoff of its catering operations at sports and leisure facilities
Capital Markets
The issuer in:
- Mitsubishi HC Capital and Mitsubishi HC Finance America’s senior notes offerings
- Money Forward’s follow-on offering
- PLAID’s global IPO
- Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank’s GMTN program and offerings of senior notes, including its inaugural issuances of green bonds and SOFR-linked bonds
- SEC-registered offerings of senior notes by a Japanese issuer
- A solicitation of noteholder consents and offering of senior notes by a Japanese issuer
- A PIPE of stock and warrants by a US biotech issuer
The initial purchasers/underwriters in:
- ¥348.6 billion privatization and IPO of Tokyo Metro
- Global IPOs by Rigaku, Noile-Immune, TMS, Net Protections, PHC Holdings and Visional
- Recruit Holdings’ ¥373.9 billion secondary offering
- Olympus’ debut senior notes offering
- NTT Finance’s concurrent $8 billion and €2 billion offerings of senior notes guaranteed by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone and offering of unguaranteed green bonds
- Nissan Motor’s concurrent $8 billion and €2 billion offerings of senior notes
- SEC-registered offerings by Mizuho Financial Group, Medtronic, Editas Medicine and Kinsale Capital
Recognition
IFLR1000 – M&A – Foreign, Japan, Rising Star
Education
- cum laude
Prior experience
- Tokyo office, 2020-present
- New York office, 2015-2017
- Freshfields (Tokyo), 2018-2020
Qualifications and admissions
- Japan, Gaikokuho Jimu Bengoshi, Dai-Ni Tokyo
- State of California
- State of New York