Senior Partner – Capital and Deals — Advanced-Node Design Organisation

The mandate

An advisory practice serves advanced-node companies and investors undertaking transactions involving tool access, IP portfolios, customer relationships and foundry partnerships. An anchor context spans approximately 425 employees and material partners. The urgent new Senior Partner – Capital and Deals will connect specialist legal boundaries to valuation, structure, liquidity and completion decisions.

The Senior Partner owns origination, senior client advice, engagement quality, economics and team and reports to the Global Managing Partner and regional partner council. Legal specialists determine permissibility; the adviser translates approved scenarios into deal consequence.

Diligence will test whether products can be completed, manufactured, sold and supported. Book value and technical capability are insufficient if required rights or customers are unavailable. Unknowns must change price, protection or recommendation.

IP and tool licences require attention to territory, end use, assignment and change of control. A transaction can trigger loss of access. Foundry and packaging agreements may also restrict transfer.

Financing must reflect asymmetric cash. Customers can pause faster than vendor and talent commitments. Leverage, covenants and liquidity should survive re-scope, delay or termination.

Transaction mechanisms can allocate uncertainty through escrow, staged closing, earn-out or carve-out support, but cannot repair an uncontrollable operating model. The partner must be willing to stop a well-sponsored deal.

Separation design is especially important when tools, IP, customer data and design experts are shared. A legal perimeter may not be able to tape out, support products or reproduce prior results independently. The Senior Partner will identify services, licences, people and secure data that must transfer or remain under a funded agreement.

Government incentives and tax positions can change if technology or work moves. Diligence will examine eligibility, employment commitments, permanent establishment and clawback with specialists. A transaction cannot count benefits that depend on activity the approved access model no longer permits.

Cyber and data controls will be tested in the transaction architecture. Clean teams, restricted technical rooms, vendor access and post-close deletion must protect both sides. Deal urgency will not justify exposing controlled design material before approvals and closing conditions are met.

Talent retention should focus on executable capability. A long list of named engineers is weak protection if key people lack access to future programmes or choose not to transfer. The adviser will test willingness, role, authorisation and knowledge concentration and reflect attrition scenarios in liquidity and valuation.

Post-close monitoring will distinguish resolved access from temporary workaround. Client leaders will own triggers, licences and contingencies, and the practice will track whether forecast revenue, tape-outs and cash follow the restructured route.

Valuation will reflect the cost of continued compliance. Segmented teams, duplicated tools, specialist review and restricted support may remain structural rather than disappear after closing. The Senior Partner will ensure buyer and lender cases include these costs and that synergy claims do not assume access integration that is not permitted.

Board communication will separate legal fact, specialist interpretation, management scenario and adviser recommendation. This prevents a transaction conclusion from being presented as a legal opinion and preserves an auditable decision trail when policy or facts change.

The practice will maintain a live conflicts map across investors, counterparties, suppliers and technology licensors. New relationships will be screened before pitches, not after sensitive diligence begins, and affected clients will receive transparent choices where permissible.

Quality review will be independent of the deal partner’s sales and completion incentives.

What you will own

• Lead semiconductor transaction and capital advice in Japan.
• Integrate approved export-control scenarios into valuation.
• Direct IP, tool, foundry, customer and operating diligence.
• Shape financing, protection and separation mechanisms.
• Govern engagement conflicts, economics and quality.
• Originate mandates through trusted judgement.
• Support implementation and post-close risk governance.
• Build a specialist Japan deals team.

The first 12 months

In the first 45 days, stabilise the anchor matter, identify invalid assumptions and present proceed, restructure or stop scenarios.

By month six, complete a decision with risks reflected in structure and liquidity and establish a controlled advisory method and pipeline.

At twelve months, originate or lead ¥1.5 billion of advisory revenue at target contribution and protect or reprice at least ¥30 billion of exposure. Every material access finding should change price, rights or funded action. No major independence or quality finding may arise.

What the partner council will measure

• Legal boundaries translated into economic scenarios.
• Licences and customer rights tested through change of control.
• Liquidity surviving realistic delay.
• Deal structures allocating rather than concealing uncertainty.
• Willingness to stop transactions.
• Strong client trust and specialist delivery.

The person

You bring 22–28 years in semiconductor deals, finance, restructuring or investment in Japan. You have led transactions affected by technology or market access.

Evidence should include more than ¥100 billion of deal value, a licence issue and a transaction changed or stopped. Japanese and English fluency and personal origination are required.

Compensation and terms

Base compensation is ¥38–50 million plus annual incentive linked to client value, quality, contribution, origination and talent. This hybrid Tokyo advisory appointment reports to the Global Managing Partner and regional partner council. Client consent and conflicts clearance apply.

Confidentiality

The firm, clients, transactions, legal analyses and exposures remain confidential. Detail follows reciprocal fit, independence review and signed undertakings. Applicants must not approach market participants to identify live matters.