Top official at Steel Partners Japan leaves firm

TOKYO, July 9 (Reuters) - Steel Partners Japan's top official, Mark O'Friel, left the activist fund at the end of June, a Tokyo-based spokeswoman for the Japan arm of the U.S. company said.

O'Friel's responsibilities, which included building relationships with Japanese government authorities and the financial industry, will be taken over by Katsuyoshi Tanaka, another senior offical at the firm, she said.

O'Friel joined Steel Partners Japan K.K. last year after Yusuke Nishi, co-founder of the company, resigned last July.

O'Friel's departure came after the U.S. activist fund toppled the board of wigmaker Aderans Holdings (8170.T) in a shareholder vote in May, a rare case where a foreign activist fund won support at a Japanese shareholders meeting. (Reporting by Junko Fujita)