Dr. Jochen Legewie

Jochen serves as Kekst CNC Chairman in Asia. He advises multinational firms on complex positioning mandates and is Japan’s top M&A-PR advisor according to Mergermarket.

Jochen is one of the few foreign trustees of Keizai Doyukai (Japanese Association of Corporate Executives). Fluent in German, English and Japanese, he has been widely published in German, English and Japanese publications and regularly appears as a business commentator on Japanese TV.

Prior to joining Kekst CNC in 2004, Jochen was global head of communications at Mitsubishi Motors and served as Vice Director of the German Institute for Japanese Studies in Tokyo.

Jochen studied at the Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo and at Cologne University, from which he obtained his Ph.D. in Economics with summa cum laude.

Experience

Mergers and Acquisitions

• Named by Mergermarket as the No. 1 Japan-based PR advisor for Japan deals having advised on more than 40 deals with a total value of more than $30 billion since 2010.
• Advised on a number of Japanese cross-border deals on either the bidder or target side, including Meiji Yasuda`s $5 billion acquisition of StanCorp., Nippon Steel`s investment in Vallourec Group, Lixil`s $3.6 billion purchase of Grohe AG, or SMBC`s $1.6 billion purchase of PT Bank BTPN from TPG, as well as Japan in-in deals such as Sony, making Sony Financial Holdings a 100% owned subsidiary.
• Provided counsel for acquisitions of Japanese companies by foreign companies, such as Carlyle Group`s purchase of Rigaku Corporation or CITIC Capital`s purchase of Moritex Corporation.

Shareholder Activism

• Has been the PR advisor to a number of Japanese companies facing activist situations over the last five years.
• High-profile engagements include advising Olympus Corporation on becoming the first major Japanese company in 2019 to invite a representative from an activist shareholder (ValueAct Capital) to its board as well as counseling Fujifilm Corporation on its dealings with Carl Icahn in 2018 and 2019.
• Led a multi-office team advising Toshiba Corporation since 2020 on its external positioning during a period of activist shareholders making up the top three shareholders of the company.

Crisis and Issues Management

• Organized and led crisis preparation training for more than 20 foreign companies in Japan and provided actual crisis counsel in a wide number of industries including food, pharmaceuticals, apparel, cosmetics, airlines, automotive, machinery, construction equipment and others.
• Advised on several of Japan`s longest and highest-profile crisis situations faced by both foreign firms in Japan (e.g. Novartis) but also Japanese companies (e.g. Mitsubishi Fuso Truck&Bus Corporation).
• Was involved in a number of sensitive litigation cases advising clients in the background with the purpose and achievement of avoiding any publicity.

Corporate Reputation and Positioning

• Has led or co-led a number of complex reputation and positioning mandates for both foreign and Japanese corporates, many of which have been running for several years and/or have been involving various Kekst CNC offices around the world.
• Representative clients include Lufthansa, Schott, Novartis, IBM, TPG Capital, Fortress Investment, Carlyle Group, Philip Morris, Mitsubishi Truck&Bus Corporation Asahi Kasei, Olympus, TDK or Toshiba.