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Kenji Taneda
Kenji Taneda is the head of Skadden’s corporate and U.S. law practices in Japan. He regularly advises clients on complex cross-border matters, with a particular focus on capital markets and mergers and acquisitions transactions involving Japanese entities.
Bio
Mr. Taneda has significant experience advising on a wide variety of corporate matters in Japan and abroad, including equity and debt offerings by Japanese corporations, financial institutions and sovereign entities, as well both public and private cross-border M&A transactions.
Mr. Taneda was named Lawyer of the Year for Tokyo Capital Markets Law by Best Lawyers 2023, in addition to being recognized in the Asia Business Law Journal’s Japan A-List in 2022. He has been repeatedly recognized in Chambers Global, Chambers Asia-Pacific and Best Lawyers as a leading lawyer for capital markets in Japan. He was ranked as a Leading Individual: Gaiben for capital markets by The Legal 500 2022 and also was listed as Highly Regarded for Japan M&A and capital markets by IFLR1000 in 2022.
Mr. Taneda’s representations in capital markets matters (including his prior experience) include:
- the underwriters in the US$459 million global IPO of Socionext Inc. on the Tokyo Stock Exchange;
- the underwriters in a US$500 million government guaranteed bonds offering by Japan Bank for International Cooperation;
- the underwriters in the US$1.35 billion senior notes offering by Renesas Electronics Corporation;
- DENSO Corporation in its US$500 million senior unsecured green notes offering;
- the underwriters in the US$900 million step-up subordinated unsecured notes offering by Nippon Life Insurance Company;
- Simplex Holdings, Inc. in its ¥33.5 billion global IPO on the Tokyo Stock Exchange;
- the underwriters in the ¥228.8 billion offering of common stock by West Japan Railway Company;
- the underwriters in the ¥75.4 billion offering of common stock by Showa Denko K.K.;
- the underwriters in the ¥46.4 billion offering of common shares by OBIC Business Consultants Co., Ltd.;
- the underwriters in the US$500 million senior notes offering by Mitsubishi Corporation;
- the underwriters in the ¥395 billion global offering of common stock of Renesas Electronics Corporation;
- the underwriters in the US$920 million step-up callable subordinated notes offering by Sumitomo Life Insurance Company;
- NTT Finance Corporation in its US$8 billion and €2 billion senior notes offering;
- the underwriters in the ¥167.6 billion global equity offering of Japan Airlines;
- the underwriters in the ¥22.9 billion global IPO of PLAID Inc. on the Tokyo Stock Exchange;
- the underwriters in the ¥120.7 billion global equity offering of Nippon Building Fund Inc.;
- Open House Co., Ltd. in its ¥40.5 billion global equity offering;
- freee K.K. in its ¥35 billion global IPO on the Tokyo Stock Exchange;
- Appier Group, Inc. in its ¥29.8 billion IPO on the Tokyo Stock Exchange;
- Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd. in its ¥359.5 billion global equity offering, which was named Equity Deal of the Year for 2019 at the 2020 ALB Japan Law Awards;
- Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd. in its ¥339.9 billion global equity offering;
- Mercari Inc. in its ¥130.7 billion global IPO, which was named one of Asian-MENA Counsel magazine’s Deals of the Year for 2018;
- ARTERIA Networks Corporation in its ¥21.9 billion global IPO;
- the underwriters in the ¥48.4 billion global IPO of WORLD Co., Ltd.;
- the underwriters in the ¥37.1 billion global equity offering of OUTSOURCING Inc.;
- Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company in its US$2 billion and US$1 billion overseas hybrid debt offerings;
- Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company, Limited in its $910 million overseas hybrid debt offering;
- Toyota Industries Corporation in its US$1 billion and US$600 million senior notes offerings;
- Invesco Office J-REIT, Inc. in its ¥22.7 billion global equity offering;
- Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited in its US$500 million senior notes offering;
- the underwriters in the ¥41.6 billion global IPO of LIXIL VIVA CORPORATION;
- the underwriters on multiple overseas hybrid debt offerings by Nippon Life Insurance Company;
- the underwriters in hybrid debt offerings by Sumitomo Life Insurance Company in 2013 and 2017;
- the ¥44.0 billion, ¥56.8 billion, ¥36.3 billion and ¥34.3 billion global equity offerings by Daiwa House REIT Investment Corporation;
- LaSalle LOGIPORT REIT in its ¥105 billion global IPO and its ¥46.3 billion global equity offering;
- Mixi, Inc. in its ¥32.1 billion overseas offering of common stock;
- the underwriters in a ¥113 billion overseas offering of common stock by Olympus Corporation;
- SoftBank Group Corp. in a US$2.485 billion and a €625 million high-yield bond offering; and as major shareholder in Alibaba Group’s US$168 billion IPO;
- Hulic Reit, Inc. in its ¥70.2 billion global IPO and ¥18.4 billion follow-on global equity offering;
- selling shareholder in a ¥155 billion global IPO of Seibu Holdings, Inc.;
- selling shareholder in a ¥81.6 billion global IPO of Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd.;
- the underwriters, as sole U.S. counsel, on the last 16 SEC-registered bond offerings of Japan Bank for International Cooperation (guaranteed by the Japanese government) since 2013;
- the underwriters in the US$500 million SEC-registered bond offerings of Japan International Cooperation Agency (guaranteed by the Japanese government) in 2016 and 2017;
- Invincible Investment Corporation in six global equity offerings in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019;
- Mori Hills REIT Corporation in two global equity offerings in 2014 and 2016;
- NIPPON REIT Investment Corporation in its ¥24.8 billion global equity offering;
- Japan Rental Housing Investments Inc. in its ¥40.6 billion global equity offering;
- Japan Airlines in its US$8.5 billion global IPO;
- Nippon Prologis REIT, Inc. in its US$1.08 billion IPO;
- the underwriters in the US$2.25 billion global IPO of Otsuka Holdings Co., Ltd.; and
- INPEX Corporation in a US$6 billion global equity offering.
Mr. Taneda’s representative M&A matters (including his prior experience) include:
- FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation in its acquisition of Cellular Dynamics International, Inc. by a U.S. public tender offer;
- GungHo Online Entertainment Co., Ltd. in its acquisition of a majority stake in Supercell;
- M3, Inc. in the U.S. law aspects of its acquisition of Mediscience Plannings, Inc.;
- SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., as financial advisor to Panasonic Information Systems Co., Ltd., in its acquisition of outstanding minority investments by Panasonic Corporation;
- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group in its acquisition of the outstanding minority interests of UnionBanCal Corporation through a going-private U.S. public tender offer;
- Suzuki Metal Industry Co., Ltd. in its acquisition of Haldex AB;
- Nippon Steel Corporation in various joint venture matters in the U.S. and Brazil;
- Panasonic Corporation in its acquisition of the outstanding minority interests in its subsidiaries SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. and Panasonic Electric Works Co., Ltd.; and
- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group in certain aspects of its Japanese securities business joint ventures with Morgan Stanley.
Mr. Taneda was a partner at the Tokyo office of a large international law firm prior to joining Skadden.
Credentials
Education
- J.D., Columbia University (Kent Scholar), 2004
- D.E.S.S., University of Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne, 2004
- D.E.S.S., Sciences Po, 2004
- B.A., University of California, Berkeley, 1998
Admissions
- New York
- Japan (Gaikokuho-Jimu-Bengoshi)
Languages
- Japanese
- English