Takayuki Kihira, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto, Tokyo

Position:

M&A and corporate practice group

What was your first-ever job? I started my professional career as a lawyer.

Where did you study? Cornell University, LL.M., with honors, 2006 Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Japan LL.B., 2000

Where did you train? From 2006 to 2007, I worked with the international law firm of Shearman & Sterling LLP in New York and advised many of the firm’s international clients.

Prior to becoming a Japanese lawyer, I was trained at The Legal Training and Research of the Supreme Court of Japan (April 2000 to October 2001), a public legal training program provided for prospective judges, public prosecutors and attorneys-at-law after passing the bar exam in Japan.

Have you lived or worked outside your home jurisdiction? What did you learn from it? During 2005-2007, I attended Cornell Law School to earn the Masters of Law degree and worked with Shearman & Sterling LLP in New York. After my graduation from Cornell, I passed the bar examination of the State of New York. At Shearman, I practiced with the M&A group and Finance group and advised many of the firm’s international clients.  In my childhood, I spent nearly two years of my middle school days in Princeton, New Jersey where my father was a research scholar at Princeton University.

When did you become partner? 2010

What deal/case in your career stands out the most and why? One of the high profile cross-border deals that I have recently been involved is the acquisition of Talaris, a global provider of cash handling equipment, servicing and software solutions, by Glory Limited, a company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, from The Carlyle Group. Not only because of the large size of the acquisition (reportedly USD 1 billion) but also because the acquisition involved both M&A and competition law analysis in multiple jurisdictions.

What have been your recent deals? My recent deals include, among others, an acquisition of Groupon Japan, Inc. (formerly Qpod.inc.) by Groupon, Inc. and an investment in Wisdoms Corporation (Changzhou) Co., Ltd by The Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ), a public-private partnership aimed at promoting innovation and enhancing the value of businesses in Japan capitalized at 156 billion yen.

What is the biggest challenge facing your market at the moment? One of the challenges is how best to support our Japanese clients in outbound cross-border transactions. We opened our Singapore office this February and also second our colleagues to top-tier law firms in many Asian countries on a daily basis.

What has been the most significant development in your sector in recent years? Over the past few years, our clients have been expanding their business to Asian countries very rapidly.

If you hadn’t been a lawyer, what would you have been? I would have dreamed of being a professional sport athlete (e.g., football). In reality, maybe a teacher or politician?

Which country do you travel to most frequently and which country do you like the best? USA for business and occasionally as a guest lecturer at Cornell Law School. Most of my visits have been to major cities in the USA and Europe but I would love to visit more cities in Asia.

What is your favourite book? I tend to read business and economic books but also like sports magazines and stories of traditional wrist watch brands.

What is your favourite restaurant? Jean Georges Restaurant in New York.