Takashi Hirono, President & CEO

 

Mr. Hirono started his career as a banker at the Industrial Bank of Japan (Mizuho Bank, at present).  Mr. Hirono handled many complicated assignments; such as Euro Tunnel, alliance with non-Japanese banks, investment in Russian listed equities, etc.  Later he was positioned to strategize the bank’s global business plan, Midterm Business Plan, Revitalization Plan, establishment of bank’s portfolio management policy and strategy.

 

In 2000, Mr. Hirono joined Deutsche Bank’s securities unit in Japan (Deutsche Securities), where he established extensive experience and track record as M&A banker.  His team served as the advisor for a number of transactions, including Sumitomo Metal Industries who merged with Nippon Steel Corporation to form the Nippon Steel Sumikin Corporation.  This highly successful transaction was the largest global merger in history, and helps to demonstrate Mr. Hirono’s ability to work smoothly with multiple constituencies that may potentially have conflicting interests, has been valued by a wide range of industry, including natural resources, food/beverage, real estate, utilities and the transportation sectors.  Another illustration of his capacity is that Mr. Hirono’s team became the sole lead underwriter for Mitsubishi Estate’s 30-year domestic corporate bonds, which was the first of its kind to be launched in the Japanese capital markets.

 

His success was mainly originated with his strong skills in credit/market analysis and unerring strategy advice based on outstanding communication skills to illustrate the necessary managerial objectives with clear route and steps to take, to provide comfort for management of clients, who are often hesitant to adopt new business strategies.  Designing the appropriate structure to match each client’s characteristics and management issues along with the market sentiment at the time requires certain skill that is difficult to replicate.

 

His client base is highly diverse, ranging from large publicly listed corporations to smaller unlisted companies; projects include financial advisory for financing large acquisitions to arranging creative financing structures for struggling companies.