Bernitsas has acted as local advisor to Piraeus Bank on the public NPE securitization in Greece. Moratis Passas and Orrick advised sole arranger UBS Europe SE on the deal.

Kinstellar has advised Austria's KA Finanz on the sale of a Greek municipal loan portfolio to Piraeus Bank.

Greece's Koutalidis law firm has been appointed by the General Secretariat for Research and Technology of the Ministry of Development and Investments of Greece as the advisor on the tender for the Politeia Innovation Center project.

Kyriakides Georgopoulos has advised the China-CEE Fund II, represented by CEE Equity Partners, in its EUR 28 million acquisition of ATHEX-listed Paperpack SA. Potamitis Vekris advised Ioannis Tsoukarides and his family, the controlling shareholders of Paperpack.

Clifford Chance’s Prague office has helped the Sazka Group obtain a EUR 640 million senior secured loan. Allen & Overy advised the unidentified lenders on the deal, along with, reportedly, the Bernitsas Law Firm in Greece, Georgiades & Pelides in Cyprus, and CMS Reich Rohrwig Hainz in Austria.

Over the course of our seven years, CEE Legal Matters has interviewed most of the British lawyers working on the ground in Central and Eastern Europe as part of our recurring “Expat on the Market” feature. We reached out to them recently and asked them to bring us up to speed on what they’re doing and/or share their thoughts on the ramifications of Brexit or the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

Bernitsas Law has advised CVC on the acquisition of a controlling stake in Vivartia Holdings SA. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2021.

Anagnostopoulos has successfully defended former Siemens executive Dionysios Dendrinos in a criminal case regarding alleged bribery and money laundering.

Greece's KLC Law Firm has assisted Italy's Edison on the sale of its Edison Exploration & Production subsidiary to Greece's Energean — a deal that closed on December 17, 2020. 

“Things are pretty steady,” says Drakopoulos Senior Partner Panagiotis Drakopoulos, speaking about the current political climate of Greece. “The past few months have seen no major changes or updates, so there is nothing special to report on.” He says that, as most efforts have been focused on the pandemic, little room is left for anything else. 

Greece's KLC Law Firm has advised National Energy Holdings in its first investment in Greece — the acquisition and construction of five solar parks to be constructed in Central Greece, with a total capacity of 24 MW, for which it secured financing of EUR 22 million from Piraeus Bank.

Zepos & Yannopoulos has advised the Generali Group on the acquisition of an office building in Athens from Panterra.

Zepos & Yannopoulos has assisted Globecast France throughout an international open tender procedure for the provision of global signal transmission by the Hellenic Broadcasting Organization

Allen & Overy has advised Lamda Hellix on its sale to Digital Realty subsidiary Interxion. Linklaters advised the buyer on the deal. 

White & Case and Zepos & Yannopoulos have advised the EIF and the EBRD on a EUR 130 million securitization of automotive leases originated by Olympic Commercial and Tourist Enterprises S.A., a car leasing company in Greece and master franchisee of the Avis Budget Group. Avis was advised by Norton Rose Fulbright and, reportedly, Kyriakides Georgopoulos, while Hogan Lovells and, reportedly, M&P Bernitsas, advised lead manager and sole arranger Citi and co-lead manager Piraeus Bank.

Greece's KG Law Firm has entered into what it calls "a new, pioneering collaboration" with the ArtSecure boutique, which specializes in advising on art, intellectual property, and cultural property matters.

The SEE Legal law firm alliance has announced the formal launch of two new practice groups, one dedicated to Employment and Immigration, headed by Kolcuoglu Demirkan Kocakli Counsel Maral Minasyan, and one dedicated to Intellectual Property, headed by Selih & Partnerji Partner Natasa Pipan Nahtigal.

“The past few months were hard on us,” says Stathis Mihos, Pfizer’s Legal Director for Greece, Israel, Malta, and Cyprus.