Firm Profile > Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm > Athens, Greece

Commercial, corporate and M&A Tier 1

Active in industries such as energy, infrastructure, food and beverage, transport, pharma and TMT, Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm demonstrates market leading prowess in private equity placement, joint venture and public and private M&A deals. Claire Pavlou is a standout name and tailors her practice towards M&A due diligence of targeted entities. She recently acted as Greek legal advisor to BASF, a German chemical company, in relation to its acquisition of wholly owned local subsidiary BASF Hellas. The client roster encompasses banking and financial institutions, state-owned and public utility companies, private and state equity funds, pension funds and family offices. Senior Associate Katerina Tzamalouka  works closely alongside Pavlou.

Dispute resolution Tier 1

The team at Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm is ‘staffed with excellent colleagues’ who ‘provide a huge comfort to clients’. Acting for a client base of multinational and domestic companies, banking institutions, pharmaceuticals and tobacco companies, and high-net-worth individuals, the team handles the full array of disputes and arbitration proceedings including those with a cross-border element. Anthony Hadjioannou is a standout name who focuses on commercial agency, distribution, supply contract, product liability, trade mark and goodwill compensation disputes. He heads up the practice alongside John Kyriakides.

Employment Tier 1

Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm’s team is noted by clients as ‘very-well organised and proficient’. The Coca Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, IBM Hellas and Abbott Laboratories are on the client roster and instruct the team on local and international contentious and non-contentious matters. Effie Mitsopoulou leads the department, which has a track record in restructurings, cross-border projects, corporate immigration and redundancy plans. Another key name is Ioanna Kyriazi, who is an ‘exceptional professional with a solution to all issues’; she recently represented ContiTech in litigation arising from the closure of its manufacturing plant in Volos and the related mass redundancies.

Energy Tier 1

Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm is a key name for energy infrastructure projects and advice on industry-specific regulation, M&A, project finance, project agreements, corporate and tax planning work. Gus Papamichalopoulos is a go-to name in Greece and the wider SEE region for electricity, renewables and oil and gas work, and jointly heads up the practice with Elisabeth Eleftheriades. Papamichalopoulos recently acted for a consortium comprised of Snam, Enagás and Fluxys on its €535m acquisition of a stake in DESFA from Hellenic Petroleum and the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund. Senior associate Aristotelis Katranis  is recommended for regulatory matters.

Projects and privatisation Tier 1

Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm is noted for the ‘quality of its work, commercial knowledge and capacity for negotiation’. The department advises private sector companies and investors on all aspects of large-scale projects and privatisations, and is jointly headed up by Gus Papamichalopoulos, Elisabeth Eleftheriades and Evangelia Dimitropoulou. The group has notable expertise in energy sector mandates; the team recently represented a consortium of SNAM, Enagás Internacional and Fluxys on the acquisition of a majority stake in DESFA from Hellenic Petroleum and the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund. Counsel Kimon Tsakiris specialises in energy, utilities and infrastructure projects.

Banking, finance and capital markets Tier 2

Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm has a particular focus on commercial lending where it assists major credit institutions on the issuing and restructuring of loans. Assistance is also provided to borrowers with the team assisting prospective investors in debt and equity acquisitions of target companies. NPLs are also a key stone of the practice, as are infrastructure and energy projects. Konstantinos Vouterakos heads the department which is geared to handle instructions with a cross-border element.

EU and competition Tier 2

Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm provides its clients with a ‘disciplined and rigorous approach to matters’. Its areas of expertise include cartels, merger clearances, joint ventures, state aid work and PPP matters, market investigations and consumer protection issues. Anastasia Dritsa is a ‘formidable and commanding presence’, and leads the team, which was recently bolstered by the arrival of Victoria Mertikopoulou from her position as Commissioner Rapporteur of the HCC. Key sectors for the team include the electricity, petrochemicals, telecoms, consumer goods, food and beverage, retail, media and pharmaceuticals industries.

Insurance Tier 2

Clients of Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm include insurance companies, financial institutions and insurance intermediaries in addition to insured parties. Konstantinos Issaias serves as practice head and supports clients on numerous issues from general advice on liability insurance to the implementation of health and life insurance programs. The team is also well-versed in the Solvency II and Insurance Distribution Directive and has a track record in handling employee benefit plans and D&O insurance policies. Associate Zaphirenia Theodoraki is an up-and-coming name for insurance contract law and regulatory matters.

Intellectual property Tier 2

Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm assists clients with trade mark, design, patent, copyright and domain name issues with specialist knowledge of the health, life sciences, entertainment, IT and food industries. Irene Kyriakides oversees the practice, which represents clients from across Europe, the US, Asia and Africa. Examples of work undertaken include trade mark registrations, prosecutions and enforcement work, patent filings and registrations, portfolio management and unfair competition litigation; the group also drafts licensing, transfer and franchise agreements.

Real estate and construction Tier 2

Elisabeth Eleftheriades leads the team at Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm, which has industry-specific expertise in the commercial, hospitality and leisure, energy, utilities, banking and finance, logistics and private client sectors. The group demonstrates experience in transactions, litigation, finance matters, urban planning work, leasings, environmental mandates and archaeological legislation matters, and is adept at acting for international clients including companies stemming from China, Turkey, Israel and Russia.

Restructuring and insolvency Tier 2

Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm has expertise which encompasses insolvency, pre-insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings, support on debt-recovery matters, liabilities of insolvency, claw back actions and the ranking of creditors. Practice head Konstantinos Issaias handles contentious and advisory matters alike with specialist knowledge in advising creditors on all issues arising from their participation in restructuring schemes. Currently, his team is acting for aluminium frames producer Alumil in relation to restructuring discussions pertaining to its existing debt to six Greek banks.

TMT Tier 2

Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm is regularly instructed on corporate, M&A, regulatory, finance, competition, outsourcing, data protection and dispute resolution matters in the TMT space. The team represents IT and telecoms clients in addition to several tech start-ups and is headed by Konstantinos Vouterakos; he is experienced in representing both national and international clients before the National Telecommunications and Post Commission.

White-collar crime Tier 2

The 'excellent lawyers' at Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm are best known for their work on complex international fraud cases, with matters including money laundering, bribery, forgery and perjury prevalent in the caseload. The practice also demonstrates breadth by handling other criminal cases, from manslaughter by negligence and grievous bodily harm to breaches of trade mark laws and the issuance of bounced cheques. Panos Alexandris and John Kyriakides jointly head the department.

Tax Tier 3

Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm ‘has a thorough knowledge of tax issues in Greece and internationally’. Its work encompasses corporate and personal tax advisory work and structuring matters in addition to a range of controversy mandates. Department head Panagiotis Pothos provides ‘very well structured arguments’; his team represents a diverse group of clients including companies in the real estate investment, commercial banking, energy, private equity, manufacturing and automotive sectors.

Diversity/Community

At Kyriakides Georgopolos Law Firm (KG) we understand that our diversity is a key element of our effectiveness and success in the market.

Diversity, and in particular gender balance, is one of our firm’s core values and part of our culture, as we firmly believe in the importance that different perspectives can bring to a business.

As an example, 62% of our firm’s lawyers are women (56 out of 90 in total) and 42% at a Partner level (8 out of 19 in total). We also make sure that we have the right processes in place in order for all our employees to be treated equally, giving them the same set of opportunities regardless of age, gender, disability, culture, sexuality or anything equivalent.

In 2019 – 2020, we are committed to making further progress in our already strong culture of diversity and inclusion by promoting various initiatives towards such practices. Among other activities we are considering building our own women’s network and run a series of events around this topic for our clients and internal teams. Finally, we are committed to further increase gender representation at all levels across Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm.