The Legal 500

Dryllerakis & Associates is ‘a business-oriented, deal-making firm’, with ‘top legal practitioner’ and senior partner John Dryllerakis supported by several ‘very mature and respected lawyers’, including John Damilakis, Sophia Grigoriadou and Emmanuel Dryllerakis. The team acted alongside Grant Thornton on the Greek state’s restructuring of Athens Urban Transport.

KGDI Law Firm’s corporate lawyers are ‘professional and high-quality service providers’. Highlights included advising McDonald’s Hellas on the restructuring of its Greek business. Konstantinos Vouterakos ‘understands the issues quickly, is very capable of solving matters and always responsive.’ Claire Pavlou heads the M&A team, and Leonidas Georgopoulos leads the corporate and commercial group.

Karatzas & Partners Law Firm has been involved in high-profile restructurings and related sell-offs, including representing Greek telecoms giant WIND Hellas on its multi-jurisdictional restructuring. Catherine Karatzas, Anna Manda and Alexander Metallinos are recommended.

Koutalidis Law Firm enjoys an excellent reputation for corporate and M&A matters and has also been involved in several major restructurings, most recently for the lenders on the WIND Hellas restructuring. Name partner Tryfon Koutalidis, managing partner Nikos Koritsas and Katia Protopapa are all highly experienced.

M & P Bernitsas Law Offices’ ‘excellent, very professional and responsive’ corporate practice is praised for its ‘flexibility and open-mindedness, as well as its high level of professionalism’. Recent highlights include advising Marinopoulos Group on the establishment of a joint venture with Carrefour. Panayotis Bernitsas is praised for his ‘bird’s eye view and analytical thinking’, and Nikos Papachristopoulos is ‘one of the most experienced Greek lawyers around’.

Zepos & Yannopoulos is praised for its strength in corporate matters, including restructuring. It has numerous clients in the energy sector, such as Iberdrola Energias Renovables, as well as the Greek engineering giant C. Rokas. It recently advised Premier Capital on its acquisition of the McDonald’s franchise in Greece.

Norton Rose LLP has been busy advising on local and cross-border acquisitions and joint ventures in the energy sector for clients such as EDF, Eni and Piraeus Equity Advisors. Elena Tsohou and Dimitris Assimakis are recommended.

Praised for its ‘top-class’ service, Papapolitis & Papapolitis is ‘extremely attentive to clients’ needs and provides service in a very cost-efficient way’. It advised Chipita on the sale of Nonni’s Biscotti to Windpoint Partners. Nicholas Papapolitis is ‘undoubtedly the best in the market for complex international transactions’.

Paraskevas Law Firm regularly earns referrals from international firms and is often involved on multi-jurisdictional deals. It recently acted as local counsel to MetLife on its $16.2bn acquisition of Alico. Dimitris Paraskevas has a very good reputation.

PotamitisVekris advised private equity group EFG Equities on its investment in plastics manufacturer NGP. Other clients include SunEdison and Vivartia, which it represented in its €95m takeover of Meygal. Stathis Potamitis and George Bersis are recommended.

Sarantitis Law Firm continued to advise Maillis Group on its €280m restructuring, and represented Agricultural Bank of Greece during the privatisation of its majority shareholding in Hellenic Sugar Industry. Dorotheos Samolados heads this highly experienced team.

V&P Law Firm recently advised Hellenic Cables on its acquisition of industrial cable manufacturer Fulgor. The firm also represented Marfin Popular Bank in its €45m acquisition of a 49% shareholding in Rosprombank. Eliana Paschalides is a key contact.

Avramopoulos & Partners Law Firm has a strong telecoms industry following and is developing strong links to the German market through partner Wolfgang Gebhardt, particularly in the energy sector. Recent highlights include advising Zebra on its acquisition of a 50% stake in Tiger Hellas. AT&T is a major client.

Bahas, Gramatidis & Partners advises clients across many sectors on transactional and day-to-day matters. It advised Whirlpool on the restructuring of its Greek subsidiary. Other clients include Mango, Takeda and Aquis Hotels. Dimitris Emvalomenos heads the three-partner team.

Ballas, Pelecanos & Associates LPC has been involved in several major transactions including the merger between Abbott Laboratories and Solvay. It also handled all aspects of the transition of the Porsche franchise from Sportscar to Motodynamiki. Gregory Pelecanos heads the team.

Calavros and Partners’ blue-chip clients include Merck & Co, Johnson & Johnson, Cosmote and Olympic Airways. The firm is recommended for transactional and day-to-day advice.

Drakopoulos Law Firm’s ‘excellent’ corporate practice has ‘very good legal knowledge and a business-like approach’, and is ably led by senior partner Panagiotis Drakopoulos. Reckitt Benckiser is a major client. The firm’s offices internationally – in Bucharest and Tirana – are a useful asset, and the latter was instrumental in advising on Carrefour and Marinopoulos’ joint venture in Albania.

‘The overall level of service is superb’ at KLC Law Firm, which is praised for its ‘excellent staff and high level of professionalism’. The team represented Specificar during its $563m sale to Watson Pharmaceuticals. The ‘excellent’ Thanos Karvelis is ‘a trusted partner’.

Kelemenis & Co has a very strong following in the energy sector, where it advised the co-main shareholder in Aegean Power on acquiring the other 50% stake from NYSE-listed Aegean Marine Petroleum. Other clients include Chevron and Aquis Hotels & Resorts. Tom Kyriakopoulos, Ioanna Lazaridou and Yannis Kelemenis are all recommended.

Lambadarios Law Firm is many clients’ ‘first choice for corporate advice within the Greek legal market’. Highlights included advising a Japanese electronics manufacturer on the first cross-border merger under the newly established Greek law incorporating the CBM Directive. Constantinos Lambadarios is ‘dynamic, responsive, practical and a pleasure to work with’.

Pistiolis – Triantafyllos & Associates Law Firm provides ‘the highest quality of advice and value for money on some of the largest, most complex and demanding issues’. The ‘incredibly talented’ Theodore Pistiolis is ‘consistently reliable and infinitely trustworthy’. Clients include Intrakat, Enel Green Power and Intracom.

Politis & Partners acts for various domestic and international clients, including several in the technology, chemicals and life sciences sectors. Highlights included representing Sun Chemical on a southeast European joint venture with Druckfarben Hellas. Managing Partner Evangelos Politis is a key part of the practice.

Spyridakis – Tsoukala Law Firm’s ‘first-class’ corporate team advised Olayan Group on its €750m acquisition of snacks manufacturer Chipita from Vivartia. Eleni Tsoukala is ‘an exceptional attorney’; ‘always accessible, diligent and thorough’.

Tsibanoulis & Partners Law Firm’s clients include Siemens and Bayer. Caroline Friedrich and Anna Apostolaki are the main contacts.

Konstantin Karagiannis and Maria Golfinopoulou jointly head the team at Your Legal Partners, which recently represented a joint venture featuring M&M Gas Co, Mytilineos Group and Motor Oil in its bid to acquire a special purpose vehicle that owns a 49% stake in EPA Attikis.

Although better known for litigation, A. & K. Metaxopoulos & Partners. Law Firm also has a strong corporate practice, which has recently been acting for minority shareholders. Other clients include Victory Media, Odeon Group, Kiss FM, and the Greek franchisee of Avis Rent a Car. Kriton Metaxopoulos and Vivian Vassilopoulou are the main contacts.

A. S. Papadimitriou & Partners Law Firm’s clients include corporates and private equity funds, and it recently advised AIMS Group on several acquisitions in the renewable energy and food sectors. Anthony Papadimitriou, Evangelos Lakatzis and Thenia Panagopoulou are the key figures.

AdvoHellas – Dr Ziouvas & Partners stands out for its German law capability, and it represents Greek subsidiaries of several German companies.

Apostolos Georgiades & Associates’ varied roster of international clients includes McKinsey & Co, Linde, ArcelorMittal, and Marriott Hotels. Stavros Georgiades is the key contact.

G. Mourgelas & Associates Law Firm’s advertising and media-oriented practice recently advised on the establishment of an outdoor advertising company and an e-learning company.

Best known for banking and finance, Moratis – Passas is also very well regarded for corporate transactional advice.

Moussas & Tsibris Attorneys at Law mainly represents multinationals on domestic and international matters, and has several clients in the healthcare and TMT sectors.

P.V. Kanellopoulos & Partners Law Firm’s mainly international clients include several major players in the pharmaceuticals and food industries. LVMH is also a major client. The firm can call on its strong disputes practice where necessary.

Law Offices Papaconstantinou is a corporate boutique with a good record advising multinationals such as Kraft Foods, Toyota and Philip Morris. Eleni Papaconstantinou is the main contact.

Anthony Poulopoulos heads the five-lawyer team at Reed Smith, which has a strong following in the life sciences sector and recently advised a US life sciences and consumer goods company on Greek restructuring.

Stavropoulos & Partners’ Ioannis Stavropoulos is highly recommended for competition and tax regulatory matters.

Timagenis Law Firm recently advised two major shareholders in Torm, one of the world’s largest shipping companies, on consolidating their interests in the company to 52% without triggering a mandatory takeover. The firm also advised the buyer in the recent takeover of Olympiacos Football Club.

Piraeus-based Law Offices of Basil T Patkos provides general commercial advice to clients in the shipping and leisure industries.

C. Papacostopoulos & Associates represents a mix of domestic and international clients. Its relationship with KPMG ensures a heavy tax component to its work.

Alkiviades Psarras is the key figure in Cocalis & Psarras’ broad commercial practice. Clients include Sara Lee.

Dracopoulos & Vassalakis has a very good reputation for transactional work, particularly within private equity. The untimely death of name partner Petros Dracopoulos has had an impact on the firm and the whole legal community.

Name partner George Economou at G. C. Economou & Associates has a good record advising on general commercial matters. He doubles as a barrister at Quadrant Chambers in the UK.

I.K. Rokas and Partners advises several major insurers on corporate issues. The firm has a network of offices across southeastern Europe.

Kosmidis & Partners Law Firm’s strong team is noted for its links to the German market. Recent instructions include advising Aldi on market exit via the multimillion-euro sale of its Greek subsidiary. Practice head Abraam Kosmidis has ‘excellent know-how’.

Sotiris Felios heads the practice at S. A. Felios & Associates, which most notably advises clients in the telecoms and media sectors.

Theo V. Sioufas & Co. Law Offices provides corporate and commercial advice to shipping industry clients.