Milbank Advises Japan's NIS Group on $288 Million Strategic Alliance and Investment in NIS by U.S. Private Equity Firm TPG
TOKYO, February 29, 2008 – The international law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, in conjunction with prominent Japanese law firm Nagashima Ohno Tsunematsu, has advised Japanese lender NIS Group (NYSE: NIS) on its strategic alliance with, and US$288 million investment in NIS Group by U.S. private equity firm TPG. The PIPE (private investment in public equity) transaction illustrates how firms are successfully completing deals in Japan despite the deepening global credit crunch. Milbank’s Tokyo-based team was led by partner Darrel Holstein and counsel Bradley Edmister.
In addition to an investment at the parent company level, TPG-managed funds also acquired a stake in NIS’s Chinese leasing unit through a multi-tier restructuring of ownership interests. According to Milbank’s Holstein, this part of the transaction presented a particularly difficult challenge for the international lawyers involved, requiring a high level of coordination across multiple jurisdictions. Milbank regularly represents NIS Group on its NYSE and SEC matters.
About NIS Group
NIS Group Co. Ltd. is one of Japan’s prominent non-bank financial institutions. The company trades on both the Tokyo Stock Exchange (First Section, code: 8571) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: NIS). Based in Tokyo, the parent company NIS Group provides support for small and medium-sized enterprises (“SMEs”) through financing, investment, and credit guarantee. Its subsidiaries provide a wide range of financial services, including direct financing, loan servicing, leasing, and real estate brokerage and related services. NIS subsidiary Nissan Leasing (China) provides a bridge between China and Japan.
About Milbank
Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is a preeminent global law firm that for more than 140 years has provided innovative legal solutions in many of the world’s largest, most complex, “first-ever” corporate transactions and litigation. Our transactional expertise includes capital markets, corporate finance and transactions, project finance, acquisition finance, and other major fields of law practice. Milbank litigation teams resolve disputes involving mergers and acquisitions, proxy battles, financings and securities offerings, intellectual property, white collar crime, and corporate restructurings, among others. Our clients range from prominent multinational financial, industrial and commercial enterprises to governments, institutions and individuals. The Firm is headquartered in New York with offices in Beijing, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Munich, Singapore, Tokyo, and Washington, DC.