U.K.-based Withers has hired a nine-lawyer team in Tokyo in an effort to provide a full-service investment funds practice.

Investment funds partners Koji Yamamoto, Yoshiyuki Omori and Junko Shiokawa arrive alongside real estate partners Gerald Fujii, Naoki Ueyama and Steven Wheeler. The group, which also includes two counsel and an associate, will add a fund formation, regulatory and real estate transaction capability to the office’s existing tax practice.