Global law firm White & Case has advised on the acquisition of a 10% interest in the petroleum licenses covering the Wheatstone/Iago gas fields located off the shores of Western Australia, and an 8% interest in the related Wheatstone Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility, by the joint venture entity PE Wheatstone Pty Ltd (PEW), which completed on September 25, 2012.

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Simpson Thacher recently represented the international managers in connection with the initial public offering of Japan Airlines Co., Ltd. on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which included an international offering to institutional investors pursuant to Rule 144A and Regulation S. The ¥663 billion (approximately $8.5 billion) IPO was the second largest initial public offering globally to date this year.

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Hogan Lovells has advised Neopost Japan Inc. (“Neopost Japan”), a subsidiary of Neopost S.A., on its acquisition of the Hasler Division Business from Nisshinbo Postal Chemical Co., Ltd. (“NPC”). The transaction was signed on 30 July 2012 and was successfully closed on 31 August 2012.

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Simmons & Simmons in association with TMI Associates has advised Kasai Kogyo, the listed Japan-based auto interior components maker, on the acquisition of all the shares of R-TEK.

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Global law firm White & Case LLP has represented state-owned Qatar Petroleum on a JPY 85 billion (approximately US$1 billion) Samurai bond offering in Japan. This bond is Qatar Petroleum’s first ever Japanese yen bond offering and it is the first yen bond offering by a Qatari entity.

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Global legal practice Squire Sanders announced today that Hisao Hirose has joined the Tokyo office as Partner in the firm’s Financial Services Practice Group. Mr. Hirose is a highly regarded legal expert in aircraft finance, whose clients include leading Japanese leasing companies, major banks and major airlines as well as low cost carriers (LCCs). Mr. Hirose will play a key role in Squire Sanders’ global aviation industry group and lead in the strategic growth of the practice in Japan and Asia-Pacific.

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Ashurst has advised FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation on its A$375 million acquisition of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) division of Salmat Limited.

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The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) recently signed a 297.5 million U.S. dollars buyer’s credit (export credit) with LLP Atyrau Refinery, a subsidiary of JSC NC “KazMunayGas”, the Republic of Kazakhstan state-owned oil and gas company. The loan is co-financed with the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (BTMU), with Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) providing Buyer’s Credit Insurance for the portion co-financed by BTMU.

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Davis Polk is advising The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, Limited on its strategic alliance with Janus Capital Group Inc. In connection with the transaction, Dai-ichi Life will acquire a 15%-20% stake in Janus.

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The Firm represented Japan’s Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. in connection with a Regulation S offering of US$1.5 billion of 4.2% Subordinated Notes due 2022 by Mizuho Financial Group (Cayman) 2 Limited, a wholly owned finance subsidiary of Mizuho Financial Group. Mizuho International plc, Merrill Lynch International, Goldman Sachs International, and J.P. Morgan Securities plc were the Joint Lead Managers for the offering. Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. is one of Japan’s largest banking groups.

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