Paul Hastings Advises Sekisui House On U.S. Real Estate Market Entry

September 29, 2010

Tokyo (September 29, 2010) Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP, a leading global law firm, announced today that it has advised Osaka-based Sekisui House Ltd. (Sekisui House), the largest home builder in Japan and leading diversified real estate developer, on its strategic entry into the United States real estate market.

Aiming at capitalizing on overseas opportunities and increasing revenues from outside its traditional markets, Sekisui House has entered into a joint venture with Newland Real Estate Group LLC (Newland), a national real estate development company based in San Diego, California. As part of the joint venture Sekisui House and Newland have entered into agreements to develop residential land for 1,200 homes on 199 hectares of land that they have acquired in Houston, Texas.

Following this first stage of the joint venture Sekisui House will continue to expand its business in the U.S. In addition to its entry into the U.S. markets, Sekisui House is already active in a number of overseas jurisdictions including Australia and China and is considering further opportunities in Russia and other emerging countries.

"The market has been anticipating a growing trend of Japanese companies aggressively pursuing overseas investments," said Joshua Isenberg, a partner in Paul Hastings Tokyo office who led the transaction. "We are very pleased to have been able to assist Sekisui House on achieving such an important milestone for its business. This deal reaffirms Paul Hastings position as a leader in cross-border real estate transactions and strategic alliances for Asian companies."

The Paul Hastings team was led by partner Josh Isenberg and included associates Daniel Hick and John Opgenorth.

Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP is a leading global law firm with offices in Asia, Europe, and the United States. We provide innovative legal solutions to financial institutions and Fortune 500 companies. Please visit www.paulhastings.com for more information.