New York/Tokyo – Orrick announced Friday 17th April that Hiroshi Sarumida has joined the firm’s New York office as a partner in its M&A and Private Equity Group and the U.S. Chair of its Japan Transactional Practice. Mr. Sarumida joins the firm from Skadden Arps, where he served as a leader of its U.S.-based Japan practice group.
Over 20 years of his practice in New York, Mr. Sarumida has represented a significant number of Japanese and multinational corporations in cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, corporate finance transactions and other corporate matters. He has also been advised Japanese companies in various disputes in the areas of antitrust, product liability, intellectual property, and employment issues. He has recently represented Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. in its $3.5 billion acquisition of Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and its $886 million acquisition of Astex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Toyota Industries Corporation in its pending $2 billion acquisition of the commercial finance business of Toyota Motor Credit Corporation; Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation in its $1.1 billion acquisition of Flagship Rail Services LLC; and Toray Industries, Inc. in its $584 million acquisition of Zoltek Companies Inc. He also represented Toshiba Corporation in its $5.4 billion acquisition of Westinghouse Electric Company as well as its subsequent transactions, and Nitto Denko Corporation in numerous transactions.
“I am very excited to be part of Orrick’s global Japan Practice Group, and look forward to working together with this talented and multidisciplinary team in both the U.S. and Japan, and globally,” said Mr. Sarumida. “The firm’s strong and longstanding commitment to the Japanese market and its global reach as well as its client-relationship focused approach make Orrick a perfect fit for my practice.”
“There has been a dramatic surge in Japanese outbound investment, with companies having invested nearly $20 billion already this year. We are extremely excited to welcome Hiroshi to Orrick to assist our Japanese clients in executing strategic investments in the US and globally,” saidKing Milling, leader of Orrick’s global Corporate Business Unit.
“Having established Orrick’s Tokyo office as our first international office in 1997, the firm’s roots in Japan are extremely strong. We also have long approached our Japanese practice as a truly global practice, and we are honored to represent Japan’s leading companies in their investment activities, disputes and intellectual property matters throughout the world. We are therefore extremely excited to add an M&A partner of Hiroshi’s caliber to our global Japan Practice,” said Mark Weeks, leader of Orrick’s Tokyo office and co-leader of the firm’s Japan Practice.
Dual educated in his native Japan and the United States, Mr. Sarumida holds an LL.B. from Kyoto University Faculty of Law, an M.A. in Legal Institutions from the University of Wisconsin, where he was a Rotary Scholar, and an LL.M. from the University of Wisconsin Law School, where he was a Graduate Research Fellow. He is admitted to practice in New York.
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About Orrick’s Japan Practice
Orrick a global firm with more than 1,000 lawyers based in 25 markets worldwide, established its Tokyo office in 1997 as its first international office. Today, the Tokyo office has more than 30 lawyers. The firm’s global Japan Practice includes more than 80 lawyers across offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia and focuses on representing Japan-based multinationals in cross-border M&A and joint ventures, energy and infrastructure, intellectual property and dispute resolution matters. Recent engagements for Japanese clients include advising U-Shin Ltd., one of Asia’s largest producers of automotive access mechanisms, in its acquisition of Paris-based Valeo’s access mechanisms business—cited byFinancial Times as one of the most innovative transactions. The firm also recently advised Johnson Controls, Inc. in a global HVAC joint venture with Hitachi. Orrick is playing an active role in the reinvigoration of Japan’s renewable energy sector, including advising GE unit Setouchi Future Creations LLC in connection with Japan’s largest solar facility. In addition, Orrick is one of the most active law firms representing Japanese consumer electronics companies in IP matters in the US and Japan and offers a leading litigation and arbitration practice in Japan.
Mr. Sarumida is the fourth new member of Orrick’s Japan Practice in the past two years. He joins after Japan-qualified M&A counsel Hiroki Sugita from O’Melveny & Myers, M&A partner Ted Johnson from Paul Hastings and IP litigator David Case from White & Case.
