The office, which will practise local law, will be led by corporate finance partner Chris Viner, who previously led the firm’s English law practice in
Viner and Gibb will be accompanied by around six associates and the firm hopes to have its licence imminently, with the office fully operational before the end of the year.
The office will concentrate on corporate finance, transport, energy, financial institutions and technology work and will support the firm’s Japanese-backed projects in the
While the office will initially only operate as a UK practice, Norton Rose chief executive Peter Martyr said the firm was keen to secure a Japanese law capability.
Japanese clients the firm has advised include the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, which was one of 19 commercial and islamic mandated lead arrangers on the $1.4bn (£686m) financing arrangements for the $2.1bn (£1bn) Kuwait Paraxylene Production Company aromatics project in Kuwait — a deal Norton Rose acted on earlier this year.
The
Norton Rose head of projects Jeffery Barratt commented: “We have a well-established projects practice in the Middle East backed by Japanese banks and investors, and the establishment of the
Despite being the world’s second-largest economy,
than any other large western economy making the local recruitment market more competitive than ever.
Traditionally,
Notable moves include Allen & Overy’s launch of a Japanese-law practice in
