Our corporate/mergers & acquisitions practice group provides a comprehensive range of corporate and commercial legal services for foreign clients acquiring and investing in Japanese businesses. The group provides legal services to clients with needs in the following areas: Deal structuring. Due diligence, Post-closing advice. Multi-jurisdictional cross-border deals. Large-scale acquisitions. Corporate restructuring. Private equity. Management buy-outs (MBOs), and the negotiation and drafting of transaction documentation in English and Japanese as required. The group provides legal services to clients with needs in the following areas: Foreign direct investment. Corporate set-up. Employment law. Environmental Protection. Product liability. Food and drugs. Insolvency and bankruptcy. Antitrust and unfair competition law. The group is particularly experienced in handling corporate and M&A matters for companies operating in the telecommunications, pharmaceutical, retail, and insurance industries. For example, the group has represented foreign insurance companies in their acquisition of Japanese insurance companies, and has handled the demutualization of a number of insurance companies in Japan. In addition, several of our lawyers within the group have focused their practice in areas such as MBOs, private equity, investment teams, corporate restructuring, and insolvency. The group also advises on environmental and labor issues. We are the only practice in Japan that directly addresses emerging environmental, and regulatory issues. The group incorporates environmental legal issues into the due diligence and corporate restructuring services that it provides, and is experienced in advising on the handling of toxic chemical substances, and contamination prevention precautions and procedures. In the area of labor law, the group provides legal advice concerning the proper application of Japan's strict labor laws in employee contracts and programs. The group frequently advises the human resources departments of foreign and domestic companies operating in Japan and provides advice on the structuring of employee contracts and programs, as well as termination, restructuring, and downsizing issues. The group also provides corporate restructuring legal services by working closely with our finance and securities practice group, as well as foreign investment banks and fund management companies, and the extended network of Baker & McKenzie lawyers to identify creative, corporate restructuring options for clients that are facing debt restructuring and organizational issues. The corporate/M&A practice group consists of 13 partners and 18 associates, many of whom have trained and worked both in Japan and overseas. This combination of legal experience and language ability (all our lawyers are fluent in English and Japanese) allows the members of the group to extend their services to foreign and domestic companies as required. The group can also tap into the broader Baker & McKenzie network of 3,300 attorneys located in 69 offices worldwide, who can lend their expertise in tax, finance, major projects, intellectual property law, and dispute resolution to supplement our services. The following list highlights some of the group's recent work: Represented a leading UK based life insurance company in their acquisition of a Japanese insurance company. Advised a well-known electronics company on the restructuring of its global treasury and operations. Advised a leading domestic buyout fund on many buyout transactions. List of Partners Abe, Shinichiro Fujii, Yasuhiro Hodgens, Christopher M. Ishii, Tadashi Kawamura, Akimoto Kondo, Hiroshi Koma, Fumio Marx, Jean-Denis Muto, Yoshiaki Oghigian, Haig Ohta, Hideo Saito, Shinichi Sekiguchi, Norihiro Suzuki, Masatsugu Watanabe, Safari