Finance Monthly Deal Maker Awards 2015 Edition

61 www.finance-monthly.com DEAL MAKER OF THE YEAR - JAPAN Recruit Holdings acquires Quandoo Chosen for his involvement in the following transaction: About Kenichi Sekiguchi Kenichi Sekiguchi is a corporate partner of Mori Hamada & Matsumoto (MHM). Kenichi graduated from Keio University in 2004 and also earned an LL.M degree from Columbia University in 2010. He was seconded in 2010 to the German law firm Hengeler Mueller and in 2011 to the Indian law firm Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff & Co. During 2012, he joined MHM’s newly opened Singapore office as a member of the initial team establishing the office and servicing the firm’s clients doing business or seeking investment opportunities in Southeast Asia. With his unique and diversified experience, Kenichi has extensive experience in cross-border M&A transactions and joint ventures for both international clients and Japanese clients. In addition, he provides advice on a number of management buy-outs and tender offers as well as disputes relating to such transactions. As one of the youngest partners at MHM, Kenichi is committed to taking a hands-on approach in all transactions he is involved in. Kenichi advises a broad range of clients including private equity funds, financial institutions, Japanese trading houses, and international manufacturers, retailers and other multinational companies. Kenichi is fluent in English and Japanese. Transaction Repor t Recruit Holdings, a publicly traded Japanese company involved in global matching (e.g., connecting suppliers and customers) in diversified services, announced its acquisition of the entire outstanding shares of Quandoo on March 5, 2015. The transaction completed the same day of the announcement. Quandoo, headquartered in Belin, is one of the fastest growing online restaurant reservation services providers in Europe and operates mainly in Germany and other countries in the EU. Recruit Holdings has been pursuing the acquisition of new businesses as one of its strategies to expand its business in Japan and overseas. The acquisition of Quandoo is an important part of Recruit Holdings’ initiatives to develop its operations in the lifestyle space, which includes travel, dining and beauty. Successful execution of the acquisition of Quandoo involved extensive negotiations within a tight timeline and required a team of advisors with much experience in complex cross border transactions. Together with his colleagues at MHM, Kenichi diligently worked as a leadcounsel of the transaction. In addition, Kenichi and his colleagues worked closely and effectively with the German counsel for Recruit Holdings, such that MHM and the German counsel essentially worked and functioned as one team, which facilitated the quick and efficient resolution of deal issues and successful completion of the transaction. Recruit Holdings’ acquisition of Quandoo reflects a larger trend in corporate transactions entered into by Japanese companies. As Japan faces a decreasing population, Japanese companies are increasingly active in seeking opportunities and potential M&A targets regardless of geographic scope. We expect this trend to continue so that there will be more outbound cross border M&A transactions between Japan and other parts of the world. In addition, we also anticipate more interest in inbound investments into Japan as a result of the Japanese government’s efforts to attract foreign investments through policy changes such as the lowering of the corporate tax rate and the implementation of the Corporate Governance Code and the Stewardship Code to modernize Japan’s corporate regulations. KENICHI SEKIGUCHI Par t ner a t Mor i Hamada & Matsumoto WINNER: Tel: +81-3-6266-8562 Email: kenichi.sekiguchi@mhmjapan.com Website: http://www.mhmjapan.com/en