Kenichi Ohashi joined Lazard as a managing director in Financial Advisory.

Based in Tokyo, Ohashi was previously a managing director and vice chairman of Investment Banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch Japan.

“Ohashi-san is a trusted advisor in the Japanese M&A market. He has developed a number of long-term client relationships where he has been engaged repeatedly based on his execution capability and sound judgment,” said Yasu Hatakeyama, head of Japanese Investment Banking at Lazard. “He embodies Lazard’s client-centric culture and will be a great addition to our team in Japan and globally.”

During Ohashi’s nearly 25-year career in M&A, he advised Japanese and international corporations in consumer and retail, technology and general industries for 10 years at Bank of America Merrill Lynch Japan. He previously worked at Morgan Stanley Japan Securities, and Lehman Brothers in Tokyo and New York.

Lazard served as advisor to clients on a number of M&A transactions and restructuring assignments involving Japanese companies last year, including the sale of ARM Holdings to Softbank, the sale of SAB Miller’s European brands to Asahi by Anheuser-Busch InBev, the restructuring of Takata and the enhancement of a strategic partnership between Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation and Vallourec.