Category: Greece

Attorney at Law Eirini Stappa has been appointed as the sixth Partner at Greek firm Apostolos Georgiades & Associates in a move announced on July 20, 2023.

Stappa specializes in commercial and corporate law as well as banking, finance, and restructuring, medical law, IP, and projects & privatizations. She joined Apostolos Georgiades & Associates back in 2006, after obtaining her law degree from the National Kapodistrian University of Athens in 2003, and has been with the team ever since.

“Eirini’s election to our partnership follows a remarkable long-standing relationship with our firm,” Apostolos Georgiades & Associates announced. “We are excited about Eirini’s transition to our partnership team, an addition that will greatly assist our firm in achieving its goals. Eirini, congratulations!”

Koutalidis, working with CMS, has advised the Olympia Group on the acquisition of the remaining stake in Triathlon Holding, via its subsidiary Sunlight Group.

Triathlon Holding is a German producer of lead-acid batteries and lithium-ion battery systems.

The Sunlight Group, a member of the Olympia Group, specializes in off-road mobility storage systems.

The transaction follows the initial 51% acquisition of Triathlon Holding by the Sunlight Group in late 2022 (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on December 15, 2022).

The Koutalidis team included Partners Katia Protopapa and Yiannis Loizos and Associate Konstantinos Papakonstantinou.

Koutalidis did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

Bernitsas Law has advised the majority shareholders of Ydrogios Insurance on the sale of 80% of their share capital to Reale Group.

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

According to Bernitsas, “the agreement sets out the terms upon which Ydrogios’ shares will be sold to the parent company of Reale Group, Reale Mutua di Assicurazioni, in two stages, with 70% of the shares to be transferred by the end of 2023 and the remaining 10% by the end of 2026.”

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

Bernitsas could not disclose further information on the deal.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published, Zepos & Yannopoulos announced it had advised the Reale Group. The firm’s 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.

Bernitsas Law has advised Piraeus Bank on its EUR 500 million issuance of senior preferred 2028 bonds and their listing on the Euro MTF market of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

The bonds were offered to institutional investors pursuant to a book-building process, the firm reported. “The transaction was successfully priced on July 6, 2023, and is expected to complete by mid-July.”

The firm had also advised on previous Piraeus Bank bond issuances: a EUR 350 million issuance of senior preferred bonds in 2022 (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on November 30, 2022) and the bank’s previous EUR 500 million issuance of senior preferred bonds in 2021 (as reported on November 16, 2021).

The Bernitsas Law team included Partner Nikos Papachristopoulos, Counsel Maria Nefeli Bernitsa, and Associate Kelly Hatzigaki.

Bernitas declined to provide additional information on the matter.

G+P Law Firm Senior Partner John Giannakakis has joined ELTA Hellenic Post as its Chief Legal Officer.

Giannakakis, who will continue in his role with G+P, where he has been working since 2018, previously served as the Group General Counsel, Chief Compliance & Risk Officer for Avramar between 2019 and 2022. Between 2018 and 2020, he also served as the Data Protection Officer of Ziraat Bankasi. Giannakakis, who will continue in his role with G+P, where he has been working since 2018, previously served as the Group General Counsel, Chief Compliance & Risk Officer for Avramar between 2019 and 2022. Between 2018 and 2020, he also served as the Data Protection Officer of Ziraat Bankasi.

Between 2016 and 2018, he was the Regional General Counsel and Data Protection Officer Southern Europe at the G4S security solutions group. Before that, he was the Head of Legal and Compliance at Novartis between 2014 and 2016. Earlier still, he was the General Counsel & Business Integrity Officer for Greece & Cyprus at Unilever between 2005 and 2014 and an Associate Group General Counsel for Babis Vovos International Construction between 1996 and 2009.

I took up the role of the chief legal officer of Hellenic Post SA a Greek government-controlled group undergoing a large-scale functional and organizational transformation. I consider this as a major challenge for me – not having ever worked for a public sector employer – to support the management and the shareholder in transforming the historic and oldest Greek corporation into a modern digital and financially strong organization equipped to cope effectively with the VUCA world challenges. 

Originally reported by CEE In-House Matters.

Bernitsas Law has advised note and security trustee Bank of New York Mellon on the securitization of the Senna Portfolio of non-performing loan receivables originated by Piraeus Bank through the issue of non-listed and non-rated single-tranche notes by Senna NPL Finance DAC.

Senna NPL Finance DAC is an Irish securitization SPV.

According to Bernitsas Law, the Bank of New York Mellon is a global financial institution that provides a wide range of banking, investment, and asset management services, “and one of the largest banks in the United States with a significant presence worldwide.”

The Bernitsas Law team included Partner Athanasia Tsene and Associates Sildia Fotopoulou and Afroditi Kazani.

Bernitsas did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published, Zepos & Yannopoulos announced it had advised the Intrum Group and Intrum Hellas on the securitization transaction and the purchase of 100% of the notes by Intrum Holding AB. According to the firm, “the long-lasting cooperation between Intrum and Piraeus Bank already includes seven securitization transactions: Project Phoenix, Project Vega 1, Project Vega 2, Project Vega 3, Project Sunrise I, Project Sunrise II, and Sunrise III.”

The Zepos & Yannopoulos team included Partner Christina Papanikolopoulou, Senior Associate Mary Nigritinou, and Associate Pinelopi Klara.

On August 4, 2023, White & Case announced it had also advised Intrum Holding on the securitization involving Piraeus Bank’s project Senna. According to the firm, “Piraeus and Intrum have agreed that Intrum Hellas will act as servicer of the project Senna portfolio, and Intrum has agreed to acquire the entirety of the notes of the securitization from Piraeus.” The White & Case team included lawyers in Frankfurt, Dubai, London, and Stockholm.

Kyriakides Georgopoulos has advised Blue Grid Gas & Power on the acquisition of the 999-kilowatt Biomesti biogas production unit in Mesti, Evros.

According to the firm, the buyer was the Bluefuel company, a member of Molgas Energy Holding and an affiliated entity of Blue Grid Gas & Power. A capacity increase of an additional 999 kilowatts is envisaged for the Biomesti production unit.

“Following the acquisition, the ultimate goal of Bluefuel is, among others, to increase the capacity of the unit and to install a unit upgrading biogas to biomethane, a product chemically identical to conventional LNG,” the firm reported. 

The Kyriakides Georgopoulos team included Counsel Ioanna Barmpa, Associates Anna-Maria Papamichalopoulou, Iakovos Koulouris, and Eleana Gkotsoulia, and Junior Associates Alkistis Vallianatou, Maria Agapi Alexiadi, and Nina Leopoulou.

Kyriakides Georgopoulos did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

Kyriakides Georgopoulos has advised the Simply Blue Group on its collaboration with Archirodon to explore the Greek offshore wind market.

According to Kyriakides Georgopoulos, the collaboration is aimed at “the launch of ‘Arcoblue,’ a partnership to explore the Greek offshore wind market. This new strategic partnership marks Simply Blue Group’s entry into the Greek market as well as another significant milestone in Simply Blue Group’s commitment to sustainable solutions, particularly in the realm of offshore wind development opportunities in Greece.”

The Kyriakides Georgopoulos team included Senior Associate Efi Palaiologou and Associate Iakovos Koulouris.

Kyriakides Georgopoulos did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

Zepos & Yannopoulos has advised Greek pharmaceutical technology start-up Purposeful on its collaboration with investor PharOS.

According to Zepos & Yannopoulos, PharOS is “making a significant investment in Greek start-up [Purposeful] and acquiring shares from existing shareholders, including Metavallon VC.”

PharOS is a Greek company developing generic pharmaceuticals and value-added medicines and commercializing their innovation in the healthcare industry. It was established in 2002. 

According to the firm, “Purposeful aims to discover alternative uses for existing drugs using advanced artificial intelligence workflows, with a focus on finding therapies for rare diseases. During the last five years, the team has developed smart identification strategies for innovative pharmaceutical products targeting diseases like Fragile X Syndrome, Glioblastoma, Pitt-Hopkins Syndrome, and Acrodysostosis.”

The Zepos & Yannopoulos team included Senior Associate Stathis Orfanoudakis and Associates Artemis Bakagianni and Rania Koliouli.

Zepos & Yannopoulos did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

Souriadakis Tsibris has advised London-based Ardonagh on its acquisition of a majority stake in the Athens-based Special Risk Solutions Group of Companies.

Ardonagh is an independent insurance brokerage group with a turnover of approximately EUR 1.8 billion in 2022. 

The Special Risk Solutions Group of Companies is an independent group operating in the (re)insurance sector as a wholesale broker and underwriting agency.

The Souriadakis Tsibris team included Managing Partner Michael Tsibris and Partner Giannis Koumettis.

Souriadakis Tsibris did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.