Maria-Stefania Katsiapi is an Athens Bar-qualified corporate lawyer with almost 20 years of legal experience, predominantly in-house, with a focus on M&A, corporate and commercial law, capital markets, corporate governance and compliance. Since September 2025, Maria has served as Group General Counsel, Legal & Compliance at IDEAL Holdings S.A., an Athens-listed investment holding company operating with a private equity philosophy and investing in leading Greek mid-market companies. In this role, she is responsible for the Group’s legal and compliance function and works closely with the Board of Directors and senior management on acquisitions and disposals, financing transactions, capital markets matters, corporate governance and legal matters relating to the Group’s portfolio companies.

During her first year at IDEAL Holdings, Maria has been involved in a number of significant transactions for the Group, including the listing of Attica Department Stores on Euronext Athens and IDEAL’s acquisition of OHA’s remaining 25% interest in Kymora Limited. The latter transaction resulted in IDEAL regaining 100% ownership of its portfolio companies, following the exit of OHA as minority shareholder and investment partner. Her involvement has covered the legal aspects of the structuring, negotiation and implementation of these transactions, working alongside the Group’s management, financial advisers and external legal counsel in Greece and other jurisdictions. More broadly, Maria’s approach to the General Counsel role combines legal expertise with a strong understanding of the commercial considerations underlying each matter, with the legal function working alongside the business and management throughout the decision-making and execution process.

Prior to joining IDEAL Holdings, Maria spent almost 15 years within Public Group and the wider Olympia Group. From 2019 until August 2025, she served as Director of Legal Services at Public Group, where she was responsible for the legal function of one of the largest omnichannel retail ecosystems in Greece and Cyprus. Her work covered a broad range of corporate and commercial matters, including commercial agreements, competition and regulatory matters, real estate transactions and legal support for the Group’s day-to-day operations. Before her appointment as Director of Legal Services, Maria was seconded as Senior Legal Counsel to Olympia Group, where she worked on the Group’s strategic and corporate matters, including acquisitions and disposals, corporate transformations, financing arrangements and transactions across different sectors and jurisdictions.

Earlier in her career, Maria worked with recognised law firms, including Norton Rose Fulbright in Athens, focusing on corporate and commercial law, M&A, corporate finance, energy and real estate.
Maria has previously been included twice in The Legal 500 GC Powerlist: Greece & Cyprus and received a Gold Industry Award at the Business Law Awards 2024 in the Retail, Consumer and TMT category.