companies that are household names to Americans.
The second tier of corporate Japan is composed of
companies that are often still quite large, with billions
in revenue on their balance sheets, but that are far less
adept at international dealmaking than the Sonys and
Panasonics. Unlike the giants, these companies need a
Tokyo-based, Japanese-speaking guide to the intricacies
of globalization.
“For foreign firms, that’s the client group that’s most
attractive,” says L. Mark Weeks, Tokyo managing part-
ner of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. “That’s where the
growth is.”
JEREMY SUTTON-HIBBERT
“They have cash now, and they need to spend this
cash overseas,” says Baker & McKenzie’s Muto. “That’s
one advantage the Japanese economy still has: There are
lots of these companies.” Muto cites his client Murata
Manufacturing Co., Ltd., as an example. The Kyoto-based
electronic component manufacturer had $8 billion in sales
last year but won’t be deploying global business development
teams anytime soon. “They are a top-tier manufacturer, but
they do not have much legal staff,” says Muto. Instead, they
have relied on Baker & McKenzie for help on a series of
overseas investments in the U.S. and Australia.
Likewise, in October, Davis Polk represented Toyo
Seikan Kaisha Ltd., a Tokyo-based can and bottle manu-
facturer, on its $775 million acquisition of Colorado’s Stolle
Machinery Company, Inc., a producer of the machinery to
make cans and bottles. The same month, Skadden advised
Japanese medical diagnostics company Miraca Holdings
Inc. on a $725 million acquisition of the laboratory business
of Dallas-based Caris Life Sciences, Inc.
