Kirkland & Ellis plans to open an office in Tokyo in the firm’s first expansion in Asia beyond China, where it has branches in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong.
The firm has brought in a team of three lawyers comprising partners Naoya Shiota and Clara Shirota, and counsel Catherine Simes.
Shiota joins from Morrison Foerster, where he served as a partner for one year. Prior to that, he spent three years at White & Case and 16 years at Mori Hamada & Matsumoto. He advises global private equity sponsors and Japanese corporates on complex cross-border and domestic transactions across multiple sectors, including automotive, entertainment and pharmaceuticals.
Shirota arrives from White & Case, where she spent more than five years as a partner in the firm’s Tokyo office. She specialises in advising private equity funds and strategic investors on complex cross-border financings in Asia. Her expertise further extends to leveraged acquisitions, take-private financings, bank and bond financings, as well as refinancings and dividend recapitalisations in multiple industries such as consumer, healthcare, financial services, real estate and business services.
As for Simes, she joins from Ropes & Gray, where she spent nearly nine years as an associate, splitting her time between Boston and Tokyo. She has represented private equity sponsors and strategic investors in leveraged buyouts and other complex transactions, and also advises private equity clients and their portfolio companies on corporate governance matters.
At Kirkland & Ellis, Shiota and Simes will focus on M&A, while Shirota will specialise in debt financing transactions.
“Naoya, Clara and Catherine are all highly regarded lawyers and we’re excited to welcome them to Kirkland as we establish our presence in Tokyo. Their experience and insight across private equity, strategic transactions and leveraged finance will be invaluable as we broaden our Asia footprint into Japan, where we see strong momentum for complex transactions,” Jon Ballis, chairman of Kirkland & Ellis, said in a statement.
The Tokyo office will be Kirkland & Ellis’ 24th globally and coincides with the firm’s 20th anniversary in Asia.
AloJapan.com