Sosei Group general counsel Mariko Nakafuji hit the ground running in her role as she oversaw the company’s up-listing to the Tokyo Stock Exchange prime market and its $466m acquisition of SIX-listed Idorsia’s pharmaceuticals business’ across Japan and the wider Asia Pacific region.
Having previously worked for leading firms like BCLP and Jones Day as well as Big Four firm Deloitte, Nakafuji originally joined Sosei in 2021 as head of legal to establish and set the parameters for the legal team’s global commercial function.
After completing the Idorsia acquisition last summer in just under four weeks, Nakafuji stepped up to unify Sosei staff across Tokyo and Cambridge in a mission to marry Japanese-Anglo working culture and communication styles – a task that has put her bilingual skills to great use.
Post-acquisition, Nakafuji foresees a year of further integration with the Idorsia business’ that will have her regularly traveling between the UK and Japan and exploring opportunities in the company’s next target locations, Switzerland and the wider Asia Pacific region. Fortunately, her lifestyle and fashion Instagram account with over 134-thousand followers gives her a creative outlet to balance all her many corporate undertakings.