Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, Japan

White & Case has hired Zenya Onishi as a finance partner in Tokyo from Linklaters, where he was counsel.

Onishi, who is qualified in Japan and New York, specialises in leveraged finance, acquisition finance and cross-border syndicated loan transactions. In June 2018, he led the Linklaters team representing the mandated lead arrangers Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., MUFG Bank Ltd. and Mizuho Bank Ltd. on a $5 billion loan facility for private equity firm Bain Capital's $18 billion acquisition of Toshiba Memory Corp., Japanese tech giant Toshiba Corp.'s memory-chip unit.

Onishi started his career in 2000 at the legacy banking and securities specialist firm Mitsui, Yasuda, Wani & Maeda and was part of the 20-plus-lawyer team that joined Linklaters in 2004. He did a one-year stint at the Magic Circle firm's London headquarters in 2006 and was promoted to counsel in 2014.

"Banking is an integral part of our client offering as we continue to grow in the Asia-Pacific in line with our 2020 strategy," said Eric Berg, White & Case's Hong Kong-based Asia-Pacific head, in a statement.

White & Case has about 40 lawyers based in Tokyo, including nine partners. In January, local corporate partner Karl Pires left White & Case's Tokyo office to join Shearman & Sterling as a partner.

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