Sheri Yano

Sheri leverages her previous experience serving as corporate counsel and director of business affairs at a privately held mobile telecommunications company based in Los Angeles and as a contracts coordinator at a publicly held biotech company based in San Diego to bring an innovative yet organized and practical approach to her practice. 

Sheri has experience advising both US and non-US technology and life sciences companies on their regulatory compliance with US Bureau of Economic Analysis international surveys.

At UCLA School of Law, Sheri was a managing editor for the Asian Pacific American Law Journal and served as a co-chair of the Asian Pacific Islander Law Students Association.

Emerging Company (Investor-Side Representations)

• Represented a venture capital company in its Series B investment into a Washington-based startup developing a revolutionary approach to battery design and manufacturing
• Represented a minority investor in its Series Seed investment in a biotechnology startup developing therapeutics for a genetic disease
• Represented a major Japanese company in its strategic investment and acquisition of a minority stake in a privately held Singapore company
• Represented a Japanese angel investor with a series of strategic investments into Japanese companies with businesses and operations in the United States

Emerging Company (Company-Side Representations)

• Represented a leading provider of PLM software solutions in its Series D preferred stock financing
• Represented an MIT spinout that recreates plant processes in microorganisms to produce natural ingredients through fermentation in its Series B preferred stock financing led by a publicly held Thai company
• Represented a startup developing a mobile application in the health and wellness space with programs based on mindfulness practice in a follow-on Series A financing
• Represented an artificial intelligence technology startup in its $3 million convertible note financing

Domestic M&A

• Represented a publicly traded, Silicon Valley–based company with a well-known entertainment platform in its acquisition of the assets of a technology startup with a customizable, cloud-enabled, end-to-end streaming video solution out of bankruptcy and in a competitive live auction bid
• Represented an MIT spinout that recreates plant processes in microorganisms to produce natural ingredients through fermentation in the acquisition of the assets of a well-known artificial sweetener company
• Represented majority shareholders in the minority buyout of a San Diego–automotive company

International M&A

• Represented Kofu Hong Kong Holdings Ltd., a joint venture between Shenzhen Yitoa Intelligent Control Co. Ltd. and G Tech Systems Group Inc., in its acquisition of the outstanding shares of Pioneer Micro Technology Corp. from its current shareholder, Pioneer Corp.
• Represented United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) in its acquisition of all the shares of Mie Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited, a subsidiary of Fujitsu, for approximately $510 million
• Represented a German investor in its acquisition of a technology startup specializing in automotive applications

Other

• Represented SRI International, an independent nonprofit research institute, in an agreement to receive the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), a research and development organization and Xerox company
• Represented a Silicon Valley–based startup in its recapitalization and corporate restructuring, including settlement with an early founder and equity issuance to key employees
• Represented a Silicon Valley–based semiconductor company in the spinoff of its device business
• Represented the innovation arm of a global Japanese company in its reincorporation into a Delaware corporation
• Represented a late-stage, privately held software company in a $20 million tender offer