Bingham acquires Tokyo boutique for Sumo-sized name

US firm Bingham McCutchen has acquired a 22-lawyer firm in Tokyo, continuing its push into Asia.

In Tokyo the firm will have the unwieldy title of Bingham McCutchen Murase Gaikokuho Jimu Bengoshi Jimusho Sakai & Mimura Houritsu Jimusho.

Bingham has taken on the entirety of Sakai & Mimura, a corporate boutique, which pushes Bingham’s lawyer headcount to 45, from only three lawyers that it currently has in Tokyo.

The tie-up gives Bingham vital M&A and restructuring capability in Japan and will be effective from January 1.
The news follows the November announcement that Bingham is opening a Hong Kong office. That office will look to replicate the London offering’s success in distressed debt and hedge funds.

Ahead of the Hong Kong opening firm chairman Jay Zimmerman told The Lawyer that the Tokyo office would see expansion. But he also told The Lawyer that despite growth in Hong Kong and Tokyo, the firm would not look to mainland China.