Jeff Schrepfer, co-leader of Pillsbury’s Japan practice, is an advisor to Japanese corporations in connection with their mission-critical foreign acquisitions and investments in North America, Europe and Asia.

Jeff’s practice focuses on cross-border mergers and acquisitions, investments and joint ventures, and general corporate counseling for publicly and privately held companies. His experience includes acquisitions in the United States, Europe and Asia and spans several industry sectors, including the semiconductor, automotive, pharmaceutical and service industries. He also has experience advising Japanese clients on both domestic and international sell-side transactions that involve non-Japanese counterparties. In addition to his core M&A experience, Jeff has also handled several cross-border oil and gas transactions.

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Before law school, Jeff spent three years working as an analyst at the Tokyo headquarters of a major Japanese manufacturing firm and four years at the Tokyo office of a major French bank working as a financial derivatives broker/analyst serving mostly Japanese clients.

Jeff has been described in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific as “a complete professional with unbelievable Japanese language capability.” Jeff typically works with his clients in Japanese, both spoken and written.

During his undergraduate studies, Jeff received a one-year Monbushō (Japanese Ministry of Education) Scholarship to study the Japanese language at Nagoya University in 1989. In law school at the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, Jeff served as the electronic resources editor of the California Law Review. He also earned a certificate in law and technology.

Jeff is admitted to practice in California and is a Gaikokuhō-Jimu-Bengoshi in Japan.

Representative Experience

  • Represented JFE Shoji Corporation in its acquisition of California Expanded Metal Products Co.
  • Represented Nomura Research Institute in acquisition of Core BTS from Tailwind Capital.
  • Represented Renesas in its $6.7 billion acquisition of NASDAQ-listed Integrated Device Technology (IDT), a market-leading analog mixed-signal company, to create market-leading embedded solution capabilities.

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  • Represented Cyberdyne in its partnership with RISE Physical Therapy to create the RISE Healthcare Group, a group of physical therapy practices and outpatient rehabilitation clinics throughout Southern California that can now offer Cyberdyne’s Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) technology to its patients.
  • Represented Taisho Pharmaceutical in its $1.6 billion acquisition of UPSA SAS, a French-based pharmaceutical products manufacturer, from Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.
  • Represented Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. in the sale of its electric battery operations and production facilities to Envision Group, a Chinese renewable energy firm. The transaction included the sale of Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC), Nissan’s lithium-ion battery joint venture with NEC Corporation, along with Nissan’s battery manufacturing operations in Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom.
  • Represented FUJIFILM Holdings and Fuji Xerox in connection with the acquisition by Fujifilm of Xerox’s 25 percent stake in Fuji Xerox and an acquisition by Fuji Xerox of all of Xerox’s interest in Xerox International Partners, for an aggregate purchase price of $2.3 billion.
  • Represented Renesas Electronics Corporation in its $3.2 billion acquisition of 100 percent of U.S. semiconductor developer Intersil Corporation, a leading supplier of semiconductors to the automotive industry with operations in 13 countries throughout Europe, Asia and the U.S.
  • Represented Kurita Water Industries in its acquisition from Allete Enterprises, Inc., through Kurita’s wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, Kurita America Holdings Inc., of Global Water Services Holding Company, Inc., a holding company of U.S. Water Services Inc., which manufactures and sells water treatment chemicals and facilities in the United States.
  • Represented Osaka Gas Co. Ltd. and Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc. in the $1.2 billion equity financing and $3.1 billion debt financing for the first liquefaction train of the Freeport LNG facility and in their entry into of a long-term LNG liquefaction tolling agreement for the project. The transaction was awarded Global Finance Deal of the Year: Project Finance by American Lawyer, Deal of the Year for the Americas by Project Finance International, and North American Oil & Gas Deal of the Year by IJ Global.
  • Represented Tokyo Gas in a joint development agreement with FirstGen to develop an LNG import and regasification terminal in the Philippines.
  • Represented Nomura ICG Investment Fund in its acquisition of MBC Holdings K.K., a provider of cable and internet services to the armed forces in Okinawa, Japan.
  • Represented Tanaka Kikinzoku, a Japanese company specializing in precious metals refining and fabrication in its acquisition of 100 percent of Metalor Technologies International, S.A., also a precious metals refining and fabrication company based in Switzerland, with operations worldwide.
  • Represented Fujitsu Semiconductor in the sale of a minority interest in its 300 mm wafer manufacturing facility located in Kuwana, Mie, Japan to United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) and license of UMC’s advanced 40 nm technology to FSL.
  • Represented Mitsubishi Materials in the sale of its minority joint venture stake in Hemlock Semiconductor, a Michigan-based semiconductor and solar cell polycrystalline silicon maker to the majority joint venture partner, Dow Corning, for $240 million.
  • Represented ROHM and its wholly owned subsidiary, LAPIS Semiconductor, a developer and manufacturer of wireless communication LSIs, in connection with the sale of LAPIS’s semiconductor optical components business unit to NeoPhotonics Corporation.
  • Represented Fujikura in its acquisition of a controlling interest in Nistica Inc., a global supplier of agile optical modules used in high-bandwidth applications, and the subsequent sale of a portion of such stake to Innovation Network Corporation of Japan.
  • Represented Krosaki Harima in its INR 5.761 billion (approximately $133 million) acquisition of a 51 percent stake in Tata Refractories Limited (later renamed TRL Krosaki Refractories Limited), a leading Indian refractories manufacturer, from Tata Steel Limited (TSL), with TSL retaining a 26% stake.
  • Represented Mitsui Gas e Energia do Brasil in its acquisition of a 49 percent stake in Petrobras Gás S.A. – Gaspetro, a wholly owned subsidiary of Brazilian state-owned oil company Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras, for approximately $500 million. Gaspetro holds an interest in 19 companies that distribute natural gas under concession agreements with 19 different Brazilian states.
  • Represented Taisho Pharmaceutical in its $256 million acquisition of Hoepharma Holdings Sdn. Bhd., a Malaysian pharmaceutical company specializing in dermatological products.
  • Represented Harima Chemicals in its $377 million acquisition of the ink and adhesive resins business of Momentive Specialty Chemicals Inc.

Professional Highlights

  • Ranked Band 4, Corporate/M&A: International – Japan by Chambers and Partners.
  • Recognized as a Recommended Lawyer, Corporate M&A: International Firms and Joint Ventures by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2021.

Education

  • J.D., University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Berkeley Law)

    B.A., International Studies, Northern Kentucky University

Admissions

  • Japan, Dai-ni Tokyo Bar Association (Foreign Admitted Lawyer)

    California

Languages

  • Japanese