About Us
Our Leadership Team
Minoru Awabayashi — Managing Partner (Tokyo)
Email: awabayashi@synteraadvisors.com
Phone: +81 9034366838
Minoru Awabayashi has 40+ years of experience advising Japanese companies expanding overseas and foreign companies entering Japan and Asian markets. He specializes in cross-border negotiations that bridge cultural and business practice differences. Previously a senior member of Takenaka Partners LLC’s Tokyo office, he advised Japanese clients on acquisitions in the United States and Europe and guided American companies in divesting Japan subsidiaries. Minoru currently serves as an independent director of ASKA Pharmaceutical Holdings (TSE Prime: 4886). From 1983 to 1997, he was Co-founder and Managing Partner of Pacific Marketing Partners. He is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Environmental Design.
Yoshio Takai — Managing Partner (New York)
Email: takai@synteraadvisors.com
Phone: 646-957-4119
Yoshio Takai combines deep cross-border M&A expertise with hands-on leadership at U.S. subsidiaries of publicly traded Japanese companies. He spent more than a decade with the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan as a core member of its M&A division, advising Japanese clients on end-to-end cross-border transactions. Yoshio later held executive roles at Overhead Door Corporation (following its acquisition by Sanwa Holdings Corporation), where he led post-merger integration and major acquisitions, and served as CFO of Japan Pulp & Paper USA during its acquisition of Gould Paper Corporation, overseeing PMI and subsequent add-ons. He also served as a Managing Director at Takenaka Partners in New York. Yoshio holds a BS in Materials Science from Yokohama National University and an MS in Management from MIT. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the AICPA.
Kris Fujita — Managing Partner (Los Angeles & Hawaii)
Email: kfujita@synteraadvisors.com
Phone: 213-284-6924
Kris Fujita brings over 27 years of cross-border M&A experience advising Japanese corporations, most recently working alongside Mr. Yukuo Takenaka, founder of Takenaka Partners and one of the pioneers in advising Japanese strategics on cross-border transactions. She counsels clients on mergers and acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures, and divestitures across a wide range of industries. Earlier in her career, Kris served as a Senior Consultant in Deloitte’s Capital Markets Group and its Business Assurance & Advisory Division, where she worked with large multinational clients. Prior to Deloitte, she was a Post-Graduate Intern at the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in Norwalk, Connecticut. Kris is a CFA charterholder and an inactive Certified Public Accountant. She holds both a Bachelor of Science and a Master’s degree in Accounting from the University of Southern California and is a member of the AICPA and the CFA Institute.