David Azcue is a Partner in the Firm’s Tokyo office, where he co-heads our Private Funds Practice in Japan. He has spent over 30 years in Japan as a student, entrepreneur, in-house legal team member of a high-tech Japanese manufacturing company, professional translator and interpreter, and for the past 15 years as a private funds attorney with the Firm, mainly in Tokyo. David has been recognized as a leading private funds lawyer by numerous authorities including Chambers Asia-Pacific and Who’s Who Legal, and brings to his practice a deep understanding of Japan and broad experience in global fundraisings for private investment funds.
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Work Highlights
- Advantage Partners Funds IV, IV-S, V and VI
- Advantage Partners InfleXion Funds
- Affinity Asia Pacific Fund V
- Aspirant Group III
- CLSA Sunrise IV
- Integral Fund III
- J-GIA Fund II
- J-Star Funds III and IV
- New Horizon Funds III and IV
- Nippon Investment Company Funds I and II
- PAG SCREP VII
- Polaris Funds IV and V
- T Capital Fund VI
- Yunfeng Funds II and III
Accolades
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Acritas
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Chambers Asia-Pacific
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Lawdragon
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Who’s Who Legal
Education
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University of Michigan Law School, 2003 J.D.
Michigan Law Review, Associate Editor (2001-2003)
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University of Pennsylvania, 1993 B.A.
With Distinction
Associations
- American Bar Association
- Dai-ichi Tokyo Bar Association
Admissions
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New York 2005
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Japan (Gaikokuho Jimu Bengoshi) 2020
David Azcue is a Partner in the Firm’s Tokyo office where he co-heads our Private Funds Practice in Japan.
David has been designated as both a Global and National Leader in private fund formation by Who’s Who Legal, and recognized as a leading private funds lawyer by numerous authorities including Chambers Asia-Pacific, Acritas and LawDragon Insights: Private Funds, where clients have described him as “meticulous” and “renowned and respected within the Japanese market for his experience dealing with Japanese managers.”
Simpson Thacher’s Asia Private Funds Practice is ranked Band 1 by Chambers Global and Chambers Asia-Pacific, where it has been singled out as “a top player for funds work” in Japan, and is ranked Tier 1 by IFLR1000 and The Legal 500. IFLR1000 has quoted a client as lauding the Firm’s practice as “one of the few groups” that can “adapt the legal perspective to the commercial” in Japan. The Firm’s Asia Private Funds Practice has also won numerous awards including, most recently, “Investment Funds Firm of the Year” at the 2017 Asia Legal Awards and “Investment Funds Law Firm of the Year in Japan” at the 2019 Asian Legal Business Japan Law Awards.
David’s recent representations include Advantage Partners, Aspirant Group, CLSA Capital Partners, Diamond Realty Management, J-GIA, J-Star, Nippon Investment Company, Nissay Asset Management, NSSK, PAG, Polaris, Seven Seas, T Capital and Unison in Japan, as well as Yunfeng Capital in China, and Affinity Equity Partners, Excelsior Capital Asia, and other regional and pan-regional sponsors and investors.
David joined the Firm’s Tokyo office in 2006 and worked in the Firm’s Beijing office from 2013 to 2015. He has spent most of the past 30 years in Japan and is fluent in spoken and written Japanese. He also speaks Spanish and is proficient in spoken Mandarin and written Chinese. David holds a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School, where he was an editor of the Michigan Law Review. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania with distinction.