Currently seconded to our Tokyo office

Edward Cole is a partner in the Tokyo office. He has extensive experience in debt and equity capital market offerings, acting for both issuers and underwriters and also works on the structuring and marketing of investment funds and on cross border M&A and real estate transactions. He has worked in Sydney, Tokyo and London over the last ten years.

In Tokyo, he has advised:

  • on the acquisition of a European appliance manufacturing business from private equity sellers by a Japanese corporation;
  • on the establishment of Japanese and Korean property and infrastructure funds;
  • Mitsui & Co. Ltd. on a joint venture for an emerging markets infrastructure fund;
  • on the acquisition and financing of various Japanese properties by New Star Asset Management;
  • on the acquisition of an industrial site for ThyssenKrupp Technologies; and
  • on various listed and unlisted MTN and convertible bond offerings by Japanese companies.

His experience, prior to joining the Tokyo office, includes advising on:

  • Virgin Mobile’s flotation;
  • various fundraisings for Xstrata including convertible bond offerings, a rights issue and a yankee bond offer;
  • the first London-listed flotation of a hedge fund feeder fund;
  • acquisitions of various infrastructure assets including Czech power stations and water utilities; and
  • the establishment, marketing and listing of investment funds for various asset classes including commercial real estate, CLOs and private equity investments.

Mr Cole is a fluent Japanese speaker and studied at the Australian National University in Canberra and Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, and is admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales. He originally qualified in New South Wales, Australia having worked as the associate to the Chief Justice of that jurisdiction. He joined the firm in 2001 and is on his second long term posting to Tokyo where he is a member of the Daiichi Tokyo Bar Association and is licensed to practice English law in Japan.

Contact details

edward.cole@freshfields.com

  • Tokyo office
  • Akasaka Biz Tower 36F
    5-3-1 Akasaka
    Minato-ku
    Tokyo 107-6336
    Japan
  • Telephone
  • +81 3 3584 8533
  • Fax
  • +81 3 3584 8501
  • London office
  • 65 Fleet Street
    London EC4Y 1HS
    United Kingdom
  • Telephone
  • +81 33 5848 533
  • Fax
  • +81 33 5848 501