Global law firm White & Case has bolstered its investment funds offering in Tokyo with the addition of partner Eriko Sakata from Linklaters.

Sakata is a funds and finance lawyer with a focus on investment management, real estate, structured finance, and financial regulatory advice. She had been a partner at Linklaters since 2015.

“There continues to be significant interest from global and regional asset management clients to establish funds in Japan and to invest there, particularly in the private equity, real estate and infrastructure sectors,” said Anthony Wong, head of White & Case’s APAC investment funds group.

With global private equity investors falling out of love with a misfiring China, and other Asian alternatives coming up short, Japan has become the region’s new PE darling, bolstered by favourable monetary policies and government initiatives, market and regulatory reforms, and its unique socio-economic development. 

White & Case now has ten partners in Tokyo after the firm lost real estate partners Mizuho Yamada and Ayako Kawano to Greenberg Traurig earlier this year. More recently, the firm’s Singapore office saw the departure of private equity funds partner Sayak Maity to Linklaters.