Category: Greece

Zepos & Yannopoulos has advised Boston-based hedge fund manager Bracebridge Capital on its acquisition of 95% of the mezzanine and junior notes in the Frontier II securitization originated by the National Bank of Greece. Papapolitis & Papapolitis advised arranger Morgan Stanley.

According to Zepos & Yannopoulos, “the securitization involves non-performing receivables of a total book value of approximately EUR 1 billion, originated by the National Bank of Greece […] The senior notes, retained by the National Bank of Greece, benefit from the Greek State guarantee under the third Greek Hellenic Asset Protection Scheme (HAPS) enacted in December 2023.”

According to Papapolitis & Papapolitis, the Frontier II transaction was completed in February 2024.

The Zepos & Yannopoulos team was led by Partner Christina Papanikolopoulou and included Partner Paris Tzoumas and Senior Associate Athina Palli.

On February 21, 2024, Zepos & Yannopoulos announced that the sale of an approximately 77% stake in Ydrogios Insurance to the Reale Group (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on July 17, 2023) had closed.

According to Zepos & Yannopoulos, “the acquisition of the majority stake in Ydrogios Insurance and Reinsurance by the Reale Group has been completed, following the relevant regulatory approval by the Bank of Greece.”

Ydrogios Insurance is a Greek non-life insurance and general insurance company. The company serves over 400,000 policyholders and operates through a network of 2,000 independent insurance intermediaries.

As previously reported, Bernitsas Law had advised the majority shareholders of Ydrogios Insurance, while Zepos & Yannopoulos advised the Reale Group.

According to Bernitsas, “the agreement was signed on July 5, 2023, and the first stage of the transaction was completed on February 19, 2024.”

The Zepos & Yannopoulos team included Partner Anastasia Makri, Senior Associates Mariliza Myrat, Smaragda Spyrou, and Natalia Kapsi, and Associates Katerina Vogiatzi, Evgenia Psoma, Sofia-Zoi Paraschou, and Danai Mini.

The Bernitsas Law team included Partners Lambros Belessis and Evi Kitsou and Senior Associate Anastasia Kaiara.

Bernitsas has advised Hoist Finance on its purchase of the Pearl Portfolio – a retail NPL portfolio of unsecured and secured loans originated by Alpha Bank – in a secondary sale and transfer transaction.

Hoist Finance is a Nasdaq Stockholm-listed Swedish financial institution with a presence in Europe.

According to Bernitsas, “the loans in the Pearl Portfolio had been originally sold and transferred by Alpha Bank as part of a wider portfolio to Orion X Securitisation DAC, Galaxy II Funding DAC. and Cosmos Securitisation DAC.”

Back in 2022, Bernitsas advised Hoist Finance on the acquisition of another, EUR 400 million, NPL portfolio from Alpha Bank (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on July 28, 2022).

The Bernitsas team included Partner Athanasia Tsene and  Associate Maria Cheimona.

Bernitsas did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

Kyriakides Georgopoulos has advised Novartis on the separation of its Sandoz generic and biosimilars division in Greece.

According to KG, “the local transaction was part of the global separation and spin-off of Sandoz, which was completed on October 4, 2023. As a consequence, Sandoz has become an independent, publicly traded company on the SIX Swiss Exchange with ADRs traded on the over-the-counter market in the US. The local transaction was completed on February 1, 2024, from which date onwards Sandoz Hellas Single Member shall market the generic and biosimilar products of Sandoz in the Greek market.”

The KG team included Partner Claire Pavlou, Counsel Katerina Tzamalouka, and Associate Aggelos Kosteletos.

KG did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

Zepos & Yannopoulos, working with Milbank, advised the joint global coordinators, managers, and underwriters on Athens International Airport’s IPO on the regulated market of the Athens Exchange. PotamitisVekris, working with Latham & Watkins, advised AIA. White & Case, Your Legal Partners, and Dracopoulos & Vassalakis advised the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund on selling its 30% stake in AIA. Koutalidis advised AviAlliance on the acquisition of a controlling stake of just over 50% in the Athens International Airport.

The shares were offered by the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund, which offered its entire stake in the AIA, representing 30% of its total issued share capital. The IPO included an offering to international institutional investors and a public offering to retail and institutional investors in Greece. The proceeds from the listing amounted to EUR 784.7 million.

According to Koutalidis, AviAlliance, “which already held just over 40% in AIA prior to the transaction, entered into a cornerstone agreement with HRADF for the acquisition of an additional 10% stake in AIA.”

BofA Securities and Morgan Stanley acted as joint global coordinators, with Deutsche Bank as senior joint bookrunner; Barclays, BNP Paribas, and HSBC as joint bookrunners; and Alpha Bank, Eurobank, the National Bank of Greece, Piraeus Bank, Ambrosia Capital, Euroxx, and Pantelakis Securities as co-lead managers in the institutional offering.

Alpha Bank, Eurobank, the National Bank of Greece, and Piraeus Bank acted as coordinators while Ambrosia Capital, Euroxx, and Pantelakis Securities acted as lead underwriters in connection with the Greek public offering. Eurobank acted as listing advisor.

The Athens International Airport is the operator of the largest airport in Greece, with more than 28 million passengers in 2023. According to Latham & Watkins, “the landmark transaction represents the first major listing in Europe in 2024 and the biggest initial public offering in Greece in over 15 years.” Trading began on February 7, 2024, with a market cap equal to EUR 2.46 billion.

AviAlliance GmbH is a member of PSP Investments. AviAlliance describes itself as one of the world’s leading private industrial airport investors and managers. It is headquartered in Duesseldorf, Germany, and was founded in 1997 as Hochtief AirPort, a subsidiary of the international construction service provider Hochtief.

The Zepos & Yannopoulos team was led by Partner Christina Papanikolopoulou and included Partner Elena Papachristou, Senior Associate Efthymis Naoumis, and Associates Alexis Kontogiannis and Katerina Chalka.

The PotamitisVekris team included Managing Partner George Bersis, Partner Vassilis Stergiou, Senior Associate Elena Theocharakou, and Associate Maria Glynou.

The Dracopoulos & Vassalakis team was led by Partner Yiannis Palassakis and included Partner Georgia Afrati, Senior Associate Christina Messini, and Associate Evgenia Sardeli.

The Koutalidis team was led by Partners Nikos Koritsas and Yiannis Loizos and included Partner Yiannis Kantas, Senior Associate Georgia Koutsoukou, and Associate Maria Petropoulou.

Former Senior Associates Sonia Saranti and Ioannis Charalampopoulos join the Partner ranks of Machas & Partners in Greece, with Saranti also appointed Head of Banking and Finance and Charalampopoulos the firm’s new Head of Corporate & M&A.

Saranti has several years of working experience both as in-house and external counsel and a particular focus on banking, finance, credit management, structured finance, and corporate transactions, according to the firm. She joined Machas & Partners in 2022 as a Senior Associate. Earlier, she spent over four years with Karatzas & Partners, between 2018 and 2022. Before that, she spent half a year in house as a Legal Advisor with Thea Artemis AEDADP, over a year as an Associate with D.K.Avgitidis & Associates, and almost a year as an Attorney at Law with Clayton Euro Risk, starting in 2016.

Charalampopoulos “led some of the most pioneer and complex public and private M&As and corporate restructurings of the past years,” the firm reported. He joined Machas & Partners in 2020 as an Associate and made Senior Associate in 2022. Earlier, he spent three months with the DAPEEP as an Attorney at Law and seven more with the N.Vervessos & A.Tranta law firm. He started out as a Legal Trainee with the Bank of Greece, where he spent almost two years between 2016 and 2017.

“It is with immense pride and honor that I extend my warmest welcome to Ioannis Charalampopoulos and Sonia Saranti as they join our partnership today,” Founding Partner and Chairman Petros Machas commented. “Both Ioannis and Sonia embody the core values of integrity, diligence, and relentless pursuit of excellence that have served as the bedrock of Machas & Partners since its inception […] We eagerly anticipate their valuable contribution, fueled by their skills and enthusiasm, in enhancing our corporate culture and improving the quality and value of our services, while boosting the footprint and impact of our firm.”

Bernitsas has advised Eurobank Ergasias Services and Holdings on its EUR 300 million issuance of Subordinated Tier II instruments due April 25, 2034.

The instruments are listed on the Euro MTF market of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

According to the firm, “investor confidence in Eurobank Holding’s credit standing has generated robust investor demand of EUR 1.8 billion for the issue, which enabled Eurobank Holdings to lower the instrument’s pricing from a 6.875% yield initially offered to the final 6.375% re-offer yield.”

The issue attracted orders from international investors and was over-subscribed almost six times, Bernitsas reported, with international investors’ participation accounting for 80% of the issued amount, and key participation from the UK, France, and Italy.

The Bernitsas team included Partner Nikos Papachristopoulos and Counsel Maria Nefeli Bernitsa.

Bernitsas did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

On January 19, 2024, Zepos & Yannopoulos announced that Enel’s sale of a 50% stake in Enel Green Power Hellas to Macquarie Asset Management (reported by CEE Legal Matters on August 18, 2023) had closed.

According to Zepos & Yannopoulos, “Macquarie Asset Management has acquired 50% of the share capital of Enel Green Power Hellas, a leading renewable energy developer and operator in Greece, with a current 566-megawatt portfolio of onshore wind, solar, and hydropower projects in operation or under construction across mainland and islands.”

As previously reported, Bahas Gramatidis & Partners and Gianni & Origoni advised Enel SpA on the sale. Koutalidis and Jones Day advised MAM. Zepos & Yannopoulos advised the four Greek systemic banks that provided funding.

According to the company’s press statement, Enel Green Power Hellas operates 59 plants totaling 482 megawatts of installed capacity powered by wind, solar, and hydro, as well as six solar projects under construction for an overall capacity of 84 megawatts. EGPH is also developing a portfolio of wind and solar projects, and expanding its activities in innovative solutions such as storage and hybrid projects.

According to Bahas Gramatidis & Partners, the total enterprise value of EGPH was approximately EUR 980 million for the purposes of the transaction. The deal was valued at approximately EUR 345 million.

Macquarie Asset Management is a global infrastructure investor with assets under management of almost EUR 500 billion.

Enel SpA is an Italian multinational producer and distributor of electricity and gas.

The Bahas Gramatidis & Partners team was led by Senior Partner Yanos Gramatidis and included Senior Associates Popi Papantoniou and Alexandros Sarris, Associates Valeria Kokkinou, Evelina Dafni, and Charilaos Agathos, and Trainee Associate Maria-Christina Gramatidis.

The Koutalidis team included Managing Partner Nikos Koritsas, Partners Yiannis Loizos, Evangelos Courakis, and George Naskaris, Senior Associate Dora Karagiorgou, and Associates Spyros Roussakis, Konstantinos Papakonstantinou, Evangelos Mylonas Tsoumas, Dimitra Rossopoulou, and Giota Thivaiou.

The Zepos & Yannopoulos team included Partner Paris Tzoumas, Senior Associate Niki Ignatidi, and Associates Dimitra Androulakaki and Katerina Chalka.

Bernitsas has advised Piraeus Financial Holdings on a liability management exercise concerning EUR 400 million in Tier 2 notes due June 26, 2029, and new EUR 500 million issuance of Tier 2 notes.

According to Bernitsas, the liability management exercise “consisted of an invitation made to holders of its outstanding EUR 400 million Tier 2 notes due June 26, 2029, to tender their notes for purchase by PFH for cash.” Also, the “issuance and offering to international and domestic institutional investors through a bookbuilding process of EUR 500 million in tier 2 notes due April 17, 2024.” The notes were listed on the Euro MTF market of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

The Bernitsas team included Partner Nikos Papachristopoulos and Counsel Maria Nefeli Bernitsa.

Bernitsas did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

Papapolitis & Papapolitis has advised London & Regional Properties on the sale of Rhodes Bay Hotel & SPA and Elite Suites Rhodes Bay to the H Hotels Collection.

London & Regional Properties is a private real estate and leisure investment firm based in London.

H Hotels Collection is a hospitality company operating six hotels located in Rhodes.

Papapolitis & Papapolitis did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.