XIB - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Member of the US Team
Brett Heimburger is a former Managing Director and Regional Director, Asia-Pacific of the International Trade and Diplomacy Office for the State of Utah, where he developed the state's international trade and investment strategy, and ran global operations. Prior to joining the State in 2006, he held key leadership roles at Intuit, Inc. where he led $500M+ M&A initiatives, restructured the Japan operation, and managed new businesses. He also held key marketing and cross-border business development roles at Ameritech Corporation (AT&T) and Itochu International.
Brett holds an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University and a BA in International Relations from Brigham Young University.
Chisato Minoguchi engaged in M&A advisory services for two independent M&A boutique firms since 2015 until 2022, where she was involved in many transactions. Chisato started her career at Mizuho Trust & Banking where she was responsible for preservation of rights and management of overseas securities.
She holds a B.A.in Economics from Waseda University.
Gaurav Jain was a Director of M&A at Amtek Auto, a US$4 billion automotive components group in India, and was in charge of domestic and cross-border M&A activities since 2014, including a series of successful acquisitions in India, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Japan. Most recently, he served as CFO responsible for Post Merger Integration and M&A strategy at Techno-Metal Amtek Japan Investments Ltd . Prior to joining Amtek, Gaurav spent 10 years at Grant Thornton India focusing on M&A advisory and PE syndication.
He holds an MBA from the Institute of Management Technology (IMT) and B.A. in Commerce from Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi in India.
Isao Hirakawa is a former standing statutory auditor and was an Executive Officer in charge of Finance and Accounting of Calbee, Inc.
During his career at Calbee from 2007 to 2018, he was engaged in restructuring of group companies and business sectors, including capital alliance with US company and stock listing on Tokyo Stock Exchange. Prior to joining Calbee, he worked for Kanebo (current Kracie Holdings) for corporate planning, where he was taking leadership for restructuring of the Company, including more than 50 M&A transactions.
He is a standing statutory auditor of Frontier International Inc. and a board member and an outside director of Kuze Co., Ltd.
He holds a B.A. in Law from Doshisha University.
Jin Inoue is a former member of Hyperion Consulting, a management consulting company in Japan. He engaged in providing consulting service to Japanese manufacturers at Hyperion Consulting.
He holds an MBA from Keio University, and a B.A. in History from Keio University.
Masafumi Fukushi is a former member of merger and acquisition advisory at Morgan Stanley and Nomura Securities. He was involved in numerous domestic and international M&A transactions. Particularly involved in the manufacturing, technology, consumer, and PE fund sectors.
He holds a Master in Mechanical engineering from Waseda Graduate School and a B.A. in Mechanical engineering from Waseda University.
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor
- Senior Advisor of AZ - Star
Motonobu Higaki is a Senior Advisor of AZ-Star, a private equity company. Motonobu participated AZ-Star as a Deputy CIO when it was established. Prior to joining AZ-Star in 2015, he worked for Japan Industrial Partners, Mitsubishi UFJ Securities and Daiwa Securities where he was engaged in investment and M&A activities for many years.
He holds a B.A. in Agriculture from The University of Tokyo.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Representative
- Representative Partner & CEO
Noboru Yamamoto is a former Managing Director and co-head of the Investment Banking Division at BNP Paribas Securities Tokyo. Prior to joining BNP Paribas in 2011, Noboru worked for Citigroup Global Markets Japan, Lazard Freres Tokyo, and PWC Advisory Japan where he was responsible for M&A advisory, financing, and corporate restructuring for many years. He also worked for Daiwa Securities SMBC and started his career at Mazda.
He holds an MBA from Cornell Business School and a B.A. in Economics from The University of Tokyo.
He is a board member and an outside director of Koki Holdings (former Hitachi Koki) since June 2016. Since March 2018, he is a board member and an outside director and a Chairman of the Board (April 2023-) of Tsubaki Nakashima, and an external statutory auditor (2018-2021), a board member and an outside director (2021-) of Renesas Electronics, Senior Advisor to Bain & Company (2023-), advisor for university business strategy to University of Hyogo (December 2023-), an outside director of Marelli (March 2024-).
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Member of the US Team
- Founder of EuGlobe
Ryo Sambongi is the founder of euGlobe, an international logistics IT firm based in Utah, USA and is currently serving as Adjunct Professor of Global Management Center at Brigham Young University. For over 20 years he engaged in cross-border investments and strategic partnerships. Prior to moving to the US in 1992, he worked for Daiwa Securities and the South African Consulate-General in Tokyo.
He translated the best-selling English business novel "The Goal" into Japanese.
He holds an MBA from the Marriott School of Management, Brigham Young University and a B.A. in Commerce from Waseda University.
Shizuka Aida is a former member of Integral Corporation, a leading private equity company in Japan. Prior to joining Integral in 2014, Shizuka engaged in investment banking at Citigroup Global Markets Japan, where he provided M&A and financing advisory for clients and also worked at Financial Strategy Group. He originally joined Corporate Banking division of Citibank Japan.
He holds a bachelor's degree and master's degree in management from the Science University of Tokyo (TUS).
He is a board member and outside director of Youth Theatre Japan and provides lectures on M&A, finance and entrepreneurship at TUS.
Takayoshi Nakano is a former Representative Director and Senior Managing Executive Officer at UACJ Corporation, a leading manufacturer of aluminum products, where he was responsible for leading management initiatives. Prior to formation of UACJ through business combination, he was a Director and Managing Executive Officer at Furukawa-Sky Aluminum Corp. Before formation of Furukawa-Sky, he held various positions at Nippon Steel, including Head of European Office, corporate planning, and accounting. Throughout his career he was involved in numerous acquisitions, divestitures and activist shareholder strategies.
He is a board member and an outside director of KM Aluminum Co., Ltd.
He holds a B.A. in Law from The University of Tokyo.
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor
- Vice President of Microsoft Corporation
Takuya Hirano is a Vice President of Microsoft Corporation and a former President of Microsoft Japan. As Vice President of Global System Integrators and Advisory Consultants, Takuya is responsible for enabling and maximizing the business value of top strategic partnerships at Microsoft, delivering solutions and services with these key partners jointly to enterprise customers to accelerate their digital transformation through Microsoft's cloud offerings. Nearly 17-year tenure with Microsoft, Takuya held several roles across the US, Japan, and Europe, leading, enabling, and maximizing the business value of the top tier strategic Global partner at Microsoft as Vice President.
He holds a BA in International Relations from Brigham Young University.
He is a director of JAPAN PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE (J.LEAGUE) and an outside director of Yokogawa Electric Corporation.
Toru Harada is a former General Manager of Finance Department, Corporate Planning Division at Kurita Water Industries, Ltd. Prior to joining Kurita in 2009, Toru worked for Nikko Citigroup and Nikko Securities where he was in charge of financing, capital strategy and M&A advisory. He has both experience in investment banking industry and manufacturing company.
He holds a B.A. in Law from The University of Tokyo.
Yoichi Iga is a former member of merger and acquisition advisory at Daiwa Securities. After he started his career at Daiwa Securities with corporate finance, he was responsible for merger and acquisition advisory for about 8 years. He was also responsible for structured finance, investor relation, corporate planning and risk management.
He holds an MBA from Claremont Graduate School and a B.A. in Agricultural Economy from Kyoto University.
Yoshimasa Ogino is a former EVP and CFO of Akebono Brake Industry Co., Ltd. and was in charge of its financial restructuring through Turnaround ADR. In Akebono he was involved in a number of difference areas including financing, new business, overseas operations, corporate planning etc. Prior to joining Akebono in 2004, he worked for ITOCHU Corporation for power generation projects, project management in overseas countries, corporate planning division, and ITOCHU International Inc. stationing in NYC as the Chief Administrative Officer where he was involved in a number of divestures and M&A activities in the US.
He holds BSc and MSc Electrical engineering from Shizuoka University and MBA from the University of Chicago.
Yuichi Bando is a former Managing Director and General Manager responsible for merger and acquisition advisory at SMBC Nikko Securities. Prior to joining SMBC Nikko in 2011, Yuichi spent a total of 10 years at Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch where he was responsible for Japan M&A advisory. He started his career at The Sumitomo Bank where he belonged to the bank's M&A team when it was established.
Yujiro Kawamoto is a former Representative Director and Executive Vice President at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd (MHI).
During his career at MHI, he held various positions including Director in charge of Accounting, Finance and Material as well as Deputy Head of Kobe Shipyard & Machinery
He holds a B.A. in Law from Kobe University.