Simmons & Simmons are advising Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation (“MUTB”) on its subscription of £100m of non-voting preference shares in Aberdeen Asset Management PLC (“Aberdeen”).

Through this subscription MUTB is further strengthening its business and capital alliances with Aberdeen, which began in 2008. The preference shares are considered a pioneering issuance for a UK asset manager as they have been classified as Additional Tier 1 capital (“AT1”) by the Financial Conduct Authority under the capital adequacy rules.

The transaction required regulatory issues and requirements to be addressed across a large number of jurisdictions and disciplines.

Simmons & Simmons international multi-disciplinary team is being led by corporate partner, Jason Daniel, assisted by Kelvin Goh and Melissa Kinsmore-Ward. Financial services partner, Darren Fox, is providing regulatory advice assisted by Sara Ross, Rory Turbet and Sheila Lynch, and Tony Geffin in the capital markets team has advised on regulatory capital aspects. Competition advice has been provided by partner Tony Woodgate and tax advice by partner Martin Shah. Japanese law advice has been provided by partner Kentaro Nakanishi of Simmons & Simmons’ alliance partner firm, TMI Associates.

Corporate partner leading the team, Jason Daniel, commented: “As a long-standing client, we are pleased to advise MUTB, particularly on this transaction to further develop the alliance with Aberdeen Asset Management. We have been glad to work as such a close team with MUTB and hope that this subscription will further bolster the successes which the alliance has seen to date. This was also another opportunity to continue to support Japanese activity in Europe, particularly in bringing our strengths in the Asset Management & Investment Funds and Financial Institutions sectors to bear across multiple jurisdictions.”

Mr Yoshihisa Harata, General Manager of the Global Asset Management Business Division at MUTB, said: “We are delighted to have further strengthened our connections with Aberdeen. The Simmons & Simmons team was well-placed to assist us with this transaction given our long relationship and their expertise. They have worked effectively to help us to navigate the complexities arising from the subscription.”

The issuance of the preference shares remains subject to certain regulatory approvals and shareholder approval.