• Advising various Japanese listed companies on their growth equity and venture capital investments and CVC structures.
• Advising Ajinomoto, Japan's largest food company, on its $532m acquisition of a 33.33 per cent stake in Promasidor, a major seasonings and processed foods manufacturer that conducts business in 36 African countries. Read more about the deal in our case study.
• Advising Lenovo on its PC joint venture with Fujitsu.
• Advising Eppendorf AG on its acquisition of the centrifuge business of Japan’s Koki Holdings.
• Marubeni Corporation in its acquisition of Danish Salmon A/S together with Nippon Suisan Kaisha.
• Advising Marubeni Corporation in its cooperation with GE to deploy artificial intelligence solutions for predictive maintenance and increased operational efficiency in Marubeni Corporation’s power plants.
• Advising Kurita Water Industries on its acquisition of the paper, water and alumina business from Israel Chemicals.
• Advising Hewlett-Packard on the separation of the Inc Group (now HP Inc) from the Enterprise Group (now Hewlett Packard Enterprise).
• Advising Microsoft on its acquisition of Nokia's mobile phone business.
• Advising Starbucks on the $1.3bn buy-out of its East China joint venture, comprising approximately 1,300 Starbucks stores, from its long-term joint venture partners Uni-President Enterprises Corporation and President Chain Store Corporation and on its sale of its 50 per cent interest in President Starbucks Coffee Taiwan, comprising around 410 Starbucks stores, for approximately $175m
• Advising a major bank in its participation in the central bank backed utility settlement coin project.

• The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. on its acquisition of Trelleborg Wheel Systems Holding AB, the wheel systems business of Swedish-listed Trelleborg AB, for an enterprise value of over €2bn. Trelleborg Wheel Systems manufactures and sells off-highway tires for agricultural and industrial machinery. Details of the transaction can be found here. 

Education

• Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
• Harvard Law School, Cambridge
• Legal traineeship (Referendariat) in Beijing (at the German embassy) and in Berlin (Hengeler Mueller)

Professional qualifications

• Licensed to practise German law in Japan (gaikokuho jimu bengoshi)