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Simpson Thacher recently represented Japan's USJ Co., Ltd., the owner and operator of Universal Studios Japan, in its initial public offering. The global offering of 577,143 shares of common stock raised total proceeds of approximately 28 billion yen, or approximately $236 million, for USJ and four selling shareholders. The global coordinators for the offering were Goldman Sachs International and Nomura Securities. The offering was conducted as a public offering in Japan, with a listing on the Mothers Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and an international offering to institutional investors under Regulation S and Rule 144A.

With 8.7 million visitors in its most recent fiscal year, Universal Studios Japan is the second largest theme park destination in Asia and has the highest attendance of any Universal Studios theme park in the world. USJ was formed in 1994 and opened its theme park to the public in 2001. Its largest shareholder currently is an affiliate of The Goldman Sachs Group.

The Simpson Thacher attorneys who worked on the transaction include David Sneider, Lou Rabinowitz and David Azcue in Tokyo, Melissa Ganz in New York and Benjamin Applestein in Palo Alto.