Japan

Anderson Mori & Tomotsune is one of Japan’s “Big Four” independent firms with a history traced back to 1952 as O'Gorman, Nattier & Anderson, before taking its current name following the merger with Tomotsune & Kimura in 2005. The firm has close to 450 attorneys and offices in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore and Jakarta. 

Highlights 

The firm is a leading full-service firm and is strong across the board in financial and corporate transactional matters. It excels in capital markets work where it has a strong reputation in the primary offerings of samurai bonds, uridashi offerings, J-Reits, equity offerings, and international offerings of convertible bonds by Japanese issuers. 

During the past research cycle, the firm continued to remain active across different practice areas. The banking and finance team regularly assisted clients in relation to complex financial transactions and regulatory matters. Notable transactions including advising on Taisho Pharma’s going-private, which is Japan's largest-ever management buyout with the transaction value of more than JPY 700 billion (US$4.44 billion). 

The firm's recent notable highlights in the capital markets and corporate sector include assisting Daiwa House in a $1.3 billion international public offering for its convertible bonds, and the strategic partnership between Apollo Funds and Panasonic Automotive Systems. 

Key clients 

Key clients of the firm include Aozora Bank, Apollo Global Management, Blackstone Singapore, Bain Capital, Hillhouse Investment Management, Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Sumitomo Trust and Banking Co., JERA, and Electric Power Development. 

Testimonials 

"Dedicated team, quality of advice, team organization, quick response, speed, flexibility and deep knowledge and experience of financial regulation." (M&A client) 

"They support us with their high level of expertise in a wide range of fields, including finance, EPC, O&M, chartering, and others. In particular, they provide high-quality services in a short period of time, which is essential in project development where quick response is required.” (Project development client) 

"Quick response and detailed explanation." (Financial services regulatory client) 

"High quality service level." (Banking and finance client) 

"High-quality services in a timely manner with reasonable cost." (Banking and finance client) 

“Industrial knowledge and quality of documents." (Equity capital markets client) 

"AMT's advice coming from Ando-sensei's unparalleled deal experience is always extremely helpful for underwriters to navigate issuers appropriately based on reasonable logic." (Equity capital markets client) 

"The partner did really well and was very helpful on the negotiation, leveraging his domestic transaction expertise for the tender offer." (M&A client) 

"Lateral coordination of M&A and finance, intellectual property, and other teams.” (Private equity client) 

"The overall quality of the firm’s other attorneys is exceptionally high. We have worked with many of them, and one of the firm’s key strengths is the consistently high level of expertise across its lawyers, with minimal variation in quality." (Project finance client) 

Tsunemichi Nakano  

“Good at client management, deal lead, negotiates with the counter party, quick response to his client, provides deep knowledge of regulations.” 

Kunihiro Yokoi  

“He supports us with a high level of expertise in a wide range of fields, including finance, EPC, O&M, chartering, and others. In particular, he provides high-quality services in a short period of time, which is essential in project development where quick response is required.” 

Daisuke Tanimoto  

"High expertise in legal matters concerning derivatives transactions." 

Takehisa Sato  

"High-quality advice and expertise." 

Shintaro Takeoka  

"Great work as our underwriter’s counsel.” 

Takaharu Totsuka  

"In-depth knowledge and understanding about the financial laws and regulations." 

Raku Raku  

"Raku-sensei has very extensive expertise on Japanese tender offer transactions. He proactively shares his intelligence and advice with his client."  

Hiroto Ando  

"His advice from his deep deal experiences in all situations is extremely helpful. His advice is always practical." 

Norifumi Takeuchi  

"We highly value the support of Mr. Takeuchi, a partner at the firm, who has been providing legal advice on domestic project finance transactions for over a decade. Thanks to this long-standing relationship, he has a deep understanding of our bank’s risk-taking policies. As a result, he is able to offer not only formal legal judgments but also sound business advice, which greatly contributes to the smooth progress of our projects."