Kirkland & Ellis announced that it will open an office in Tokyo, extending its long-standing transactional practice in Asia and establishing a presence in one of the world’s largest and most sophisticated economies. The new office marks the firm’s 24th worldwide and comes as Japan experiences strong momentum in private equity investment and cross-border mergers and acquisitions activity.
In connection with the launch, Kirkland is adding three experienced lawyers. Naoya Shiota and Clara Shirota will join the firm as partners, while Catherine Simes will join as counsel. Shiota and Simes focus on mergers and acquisitions, while Shirota specializes in debt financing transactions.
Shiota brings more than two decades of experience advising global private equity sponsors and Japanese corporate clients on domestic and cross-border transactions across industries, including automotive, entertainment, and pharmaceuticals. He joins from Morrison Foerster, where he was a partner.
Shirota joins from White & Case and advises private equity firms and strategic investors on complex financings throughout Asia. Her practice includes leveraged acquisition financings, take-private transactions, bank and bond financings, refinancings, and dividend recapitalizations across sectors such as healthcare, financial services, real estate, and consumer products.
Simes represents private equity sponsors and strategic investors in leveraged buyouts and other complex transactions and also advises portfolio companies on corporate governance matters. She previously practiced at Ropes & Gray.
Kirkland said the Tokyo office launch coincides with a period of transformation in Japan’s M&A market, driven by portfolio optimization efforts among Japanese companies and increasing inbound investment from global sponsors. The expansion also marks 20 years of operations in Asia for the firm, which opened offices in Hong Kong in 2006, Shanghai in 2009, and Beijing in 2013. Kirkland currently has more than 125 lawyers across the region.
KEY QUOTES:
“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 A. Ballis, Chairman Of The Executive Committee, Kirkland & Ellis
“Naoya, Clara and Catherine are the perfect lawyers to launch Kirkland in Japan. They join as the M&A landscape is undergoing significant transformation with Japanese businesses pursuing portfolio optimization and strategic transactions and inbound investment from global sponsors continuing to accelerate. We are excited to take this next step with them and to continue supporting clients on their most sophisticated investments across the region.”
Jennifer Perkins, Corporate Partner And Executive Committee Member, Kirkland & Ellis
