International Practice

Support for Overseas Expansion

Recent years have seen massive overseas expansion by Japanese corporations of all industries and sizes. However, this overseas expansion of business occurs in an environment where differences in legal systems, commercial customs, and languages are far likelier to lead to disputes than is the case with business expansion domestically. Resolving these disputes usually requires considerable expenditure of time and money, and it can often be difficult to achieve any substantive recovery after a dispute has arisen.

Consequently, when expanding overseas, it is even more important than in cases of domestic expansion to construct frameworks which will prevent disputes from arising and will limit losses when disputes have arisen.

Broadly speaking, the methods of overseas expansion include indirect expansion, in which agreements, including sale/purchase agreements, manufacturing agreements, vendor/agency agreements, license agreements, and franchise agreements, are executed with local companies without the establishment of overseas offices, and direct expansion, in which new subsidiaries or affiliates are established overseas or investments are made in existing local corporations. In both of these methods, it is necessary for Japanese corporations to avoid common pitfalls while advancing their project in cooperation with local law firms as needed.

Our firm utilizes knowledge and experience gained through years of engagement with overseas expansion, international transactions, international dispute resolution, and other related fields. We are able to provide one-stop support for all matters arising in connection with the overseas expansion of Japanese corporations, from initial schematic discussions of optimal expansion methods through matters such as the establishment of local subsidiaries, negotiations for joint venture agreements, and the acquisition of required permits and authorizations.

Specifically, our firm is home to many attorneys with experience at law firms in North America, Europe, and Asian countries, including China, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia, where Japanese corporations have seen widespread expansion in recent years. We have built wide-ranging and close collaborative relationships over a long period with both large and medium-sized law firms in each of these countries, and on the basis of these collaborative relationships, we have built a system that allows us to respond rapidly to our clients’ diverse needs by flexibly selecting optimal partner firms in consideration of the relevant legal fields, level of risk, budget and other circumstances specific to each case.

Related Seminars

More