Baker McKenzie advises JBIC on its establishment of a joint investment framework with the Russia Direct Investment Fund
Tokyo, Japan, 24 October 2017 – Baker McKenzie advised the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) on its establishment of a joint investment framework with the Russia Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), a Russian sovereign wealth fund.
This framework was formalized on the occasion of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Russia to attend the 2017 Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostock on 6 and 7 September after a memorandum on the establishment of a joint investment framework was signed by the parties in December 2016 during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Japan. Under this framework, the Russia-Japan Investment Fund (RJIF) will make joint investments with RDIF under the joint operation and management of JBIC IG Partners and RDIF. This framework is expected to contribute to maintaining and strengthening the international competitiveness of Japanese companies by encouraging them to expand their business activities in Russia and by boosting overall trade and investment with Russia. Up to USD 1 billion in total may be invested under this framework, and JBIC will invest up to USD 500 million in RJIF.
The Firm’s team was led by Yasuhisa Takatori, a partner in the Firm’s Banking & Finance Practice Group in Tokyo. He was strongly supported in Tokyo by counsel Junko Suetomi and associate Ryan Bingham, in London by partner James Burdett and associates Jon Unger, Eric Lim and Lucie Rose and in Moscow by partners Simon Morgan and Alexander Bychkov and associate Maxim Temchuk.
Yasuhisa had the following comments about the deal. “We are greatly honored to have been able to facilitate an important project with enormous potential which will contribute to the development of the economic relationship between Japan and Russia. We are dedicated to continuing to provide our clients with valuable legal advice.”