Profile and Expertise

Hiroyuki Masuda graduated from Doshisha University with a Bachelor of Law degree and subsequently from Kyushu University with a Juris Doctor degree. He was called to the Japan bar in 2011. He is also qualified to practice Singapore commercial law and admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales.

He began his career as in-house counsel at Shionogi & Co., Ltd., one of Japan’s largest pharmaceutical companies, where he handled a broad range of corporate and commercial matters in the life sciences sector, including international M&A, corporate governance enhancement, and compliance programme design and implementation. He then joined a law firm in Osaka, providing legal support to SMEs, with a wealth of expertise in M&A and corporate restructuring. He advised various companies in a wide range of industries in all aspects of the M&A process, including transaction structure planning, undertaking and managing due diligence, and drafting and negotiating all relevant documentation through to execution. He also advised and represented various corporate clients in lawsuits on diverse issues arising out of disputes in relation to labour law and corporate/strategic alliances.

Masuda has extensive experience leading and executing cross-border M&A and strategic alliances on a global scale, with a primary focus on the Asia Pacific region and significant exposure to Europe. He acts for listed and multinational companies as well as SMEs across a wide range of industries, including life sciences and healthcare, manufacturing, technology, consumer, and services. He is well versed in the legal and regulatory issues unique to multi-jurisdictional transactions, including foreign direct investment and national security screening, competition/antitrust coordination, data protection, employment matters, intellectual property, and sector-specific regulatory regimes. He manages cross-border workstreams and timelines, and designs deal structures and risk allocation frameworks that are practical and execution-ready.

In Singapore, Masuda holds a Foreign Practitioner Certificate under Section 36B, which permits a foreign lawyer to advise on Singapore commercial law. Leveraging his dual capability in Japanese law and common law—including his admission as a solicitor in England and Wales—he supports transactions spanning APAC and Europe from strategy and structuring through documentation, regulatory engagement, closing, and post-closing integration, governance, and compliance. Drawing on his in-house and private practice background, he focuses on collaborations through M&A, investments, business partnerships, and joint venture formations, and on corporate governance and compliance programmes that enable clients to execute and scale their growth strategies in global markets, including APAC and the EU.

• Experience
• Publications
• Seminars
• Newsletter

• ◆M&A◆
  (Asia Pacific)
  - Assisting the acquisition of a Singaporean logistics company by a Japanese logistic company
  - Assisting the acquisition of a Singaporean food manufacturing/distribution company by a Japanese food business company
  - Assisting the acquisition of a Singaporean electronic company by a Japanese electronic company
  - Assisting the investment into a Singaporean labour staffing listed company by a Japanese labour staffing company
  - Assisting the acquisition of a Singaporean translation company by a Japanese printing company
  - Assisting the business transfer of a Singaporean software business to Japanese PR company
  - Assisting the acquisition of a Singaporean electronic maintenance company by a Japanese electronic maintenance company
  - Assisting the acquisition of a Singapore trade company by a Japanese trade company
  - Assisting the acquisition of a Singapore IT company by a Japanese IT company
  - Assisting the investment to a Singapore listed company by Singaporean investors
  - Assisting the acquisition of a Singapore PR company by a Japanese PR company
  - Assisting the acquisition of a Singapore electronic maintenance company by a Japanese electronic maintenance company
  - Assisting the acquisition of a Singapore childcare business company by a Japanese childcare business company
  - Assisting the establishment JV company (labour staffing) in Japan with Singapore partner by a Japanese labour staffing company
  - Assisting the establishment of JV company in Indonesia with Indonesia local partner by a Singaporean food business company
  - Assisting the establishment of JV company in Indonesia with Indonesia local partner by a Singaporean painting company
  - Assisting the establishment of JV company in Indonesia with Indonesia local partner by a Japanese food business company, etc.
  - Assisting the acquisition of a Malaysia HR company by a Japanese HR company
  - Assisting the acquisition of a Singapore heavy machinery company by a Japanese heavy machinery company
  - Assisting the acquisition of a security appliance sales group company (Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand) by a Japanese optical equipment sales company
  - Assisting the acquisition of a Singapore painting contractor company by a Japanese painting contractor company
  - Assisting the acquisition of a Singapore kitchen equipment sales company by a Japanese kitchen equipment sales company
  - Assisting the acquisition of an Australia HR company by a Japanese HR company
  - Assisting the investment into a Singapore steel trading company by a Japanese steel trading company
  - Assisting the acquisition of an Australia equipment company by a Japanese audio equipment company
  
  (Other area)
  Assisting the acquisition of a U.S. venture company by a Japanese pharmaceutical company
  Assisting the business collaboration between Japanese industrial tool manufacturing company and U.S. marketing company
  Assisting the business collaboration between Japanese industrial tool manufacturing company and Korean marketing company
  Assisting the acquisition of a Japanese Hotel operating company
  Assisting the acquisition of a Japanese clothes manufacturer
  Assisting the business collaboration between Japanese clothes manufacturer and Ireland clothes manufacturer
  Assisting the corporate restructuring of a s Japanese specialized trading company dealing with mineral resources
  Assisting the corporate restructuring of a Japanese clothes manufacturer
  Advising and representing in lawsuits for a Japanese plant construction company on damage compensation
  Advising and representing in lawsuits for a Japanese real property management company on conflicts on the control of the company
  Advising and representing in lawsuits for a Japanese health care management company on disputes on transfer of business
  Several other cases, including assisting corporate alliance activities, and advising and representing in mediation and lawsuits regarding company organization and employment matter etc.
  
  

• Collaborated in writing an article “Practical Issues related to International Commercial Arbitration in Asia” (Legal Mind published by Japan Pharmaceutical Industry Legal Affairs Association, August 2015)
  
  Collaborated in writing an article “Legal Issues when research, development, sales and marketing of pharmaceuticals in Asia” (Legal Mind published by Japan Pharmaceutical Industry Legal affairs Association, April 2016)
  
  Co-authored “Foreign Investment Regulations in ASEAN countries” (Shunkan KeiriJouhou,Chuo Keizai, November 2011）
  
  “Japan - Employee Monitoring Note” (DataGuidance, November 2019)
  
  “Japan – Employment Note” (DataGuidance, December 2019)
  
  “Japan - Data Protection in the Financial Sector” (DataGuidance, December 2019)
  
  “Japan - Privacy governance guidebook” (DataGuidance, October 2020)

• “The latest foreign investment regulations in ASEAN countries” (One Asia Lawyers, January 2018)
  “Measures for establishment of compliance system in Asia” (Asia Legal Business, April 2018)
  “The latest amendment to laws and regulations in ASEAN countries in 2019, 2020” (Asia Legal Business, November 2019)
  “Examining Japan's APPI Amendments v. the GDPR and PDPA” (DataGuidance, May 2020)
  “Asian Business Law M&A in ASEAN countries” (Kobe University Law School, August 2020)