Japan in focus

Key Points:

Central to Clayton Utz’ international strategy is forging partnerships with countries which have strong ties to Australia. Japan is no exception and a specialised team from our Brisbane office have been working with a number of Japanese companies, helping to advance their Australian business interests.

Corporate partner Andrew Hay heads up the Japan practice from Clayton Utz’ Brisbane office and is assisted by dedicated groups from our Brisbane, Sydney and Perth offices. Having previously worked in Tokyo for three years as a foreign lawyer he now specialises in advising Japanese companies on investing in Australia.

Working alongside Andrew in the Brisbane office is special counsel Hiroyuki Kano, Australia’s only Japanese qualified Bengoshi lawyer working at an Australian law firm. Hiroyuki began practising in Australia in 2002 and is also a qualified solicitor in New York. Trainee solicitor Peter Lawley, who is fluent in Japanese, has also recently joined the group.

Hiroyuki returned from a short trip to Japan last month where he presented to members of the Japanese Government, energy and resources sector, trading houses and media on uranium policy and regulations in Australia and the possibility of future regulatory change.

Hiroyuki said the event was organised by the Australian Embassy in conjunction with the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) and Invest Australia's Northeast Asia Investment Promotion Department and received a lot of interest from industry professionals.

Although most of the group’s work involves inbound investment from Japanese companies mainly in the energy and resources sector, they have also recently worked on transactions involving manufacturing, education, property, food, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and tourism.

One of the group’s most recent roles involved work with a Japanese education institution which has acquired its first childcare centre on the Gold Coast.

Other recent transactions have included advising on the acquisition by a Japanese company of one of Simplot's food manufacturing plants for conversion into a long-life bakery with the idea of manufacturing food for export back to Japan, and advising one of Japan’s largest trading houses looking to invest in various uranium exploration and future development projects in Queensland.

Further to the biannual trips to Japan made by Andrew and Hiroyuki, CU has a more permanent presence in Japan with two of our Brisbane solicitors currently there on secondment.

Chris Spalding is working with Japanese law firm Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu and Angela Yuen is working in the legal department of one of Japan's largest trading houses, Sojitz Corporation. Both of their secondments have already been extended by over a year.