PRACTICES
- Administrative & Environmental Law
- Agency & Distributorship
- Arbitration, Litigation & Mediation
- Aviation Law
- Banking & Finance
- Capital Markets
- Corporate & Commercial Law
- Data Protection
- Employment & Immigration
- Energy Law
- EU, Antitrust/Competition & State Aid
- Intellectual Property
- Investigations & White Collar Crime (incl. FCPA)
- Investment in Greece (Structuring, Protection, Grants, Permits & Operation)
- M&A
- Pharmaceutical
- Project Finance
- Public Procurement, Privatisations, Concessions & Public Private Partnerships
- Real Estate
- Regulatory & Compliance
- Tax
- TMT
PRACTICES
- Administrative & Environmental Law
- Agency & Distributorship
- Arbitration, Litigation & Mediation
- Aviation Law
- Banking & Finance
- Capital Markets
- Corporate & Commercial Law
- Data Protection
- Employment & Immigration
- Energy Law
- EU, Antitrust/Competition & State Aid
- Intellectual Property
- Investigations & White Collar Crime (incl. FCPA)
- Investment in Greece (Structuring, Protection, Grants, Permits & Operation)
- M&A
- Pharmaceutical
- Project Finance
- Public Procurement, Privatisations, Concessions & Public Private Partnerships
- Real Estate
- Regulatory & Compliance
- Tax
- TMT
M&A
Mergers, acquisitions, disposals, divestitures and joint ventures are all fundamental tools and important strategic options for corporations, financial institutions and private equity investors. As the global environment becomes increasingly complex and the Greek economic recovery gains traction, M&A activity is accelerating across industries and the full spectrum of domestic and cross-border transactions. Together with our clients, we participate in groundbreaking transactions and market “firsts” offering pragmatic, creative and business-minded solutions.
As a team, we pride ourselves on being an established market leader within this field, with an exceptional track record in high profile mergers and acquisitions that have taken place within the Greek market in the last few decades. Our strength lies in our in-depth experience and high awareness of market practice coupled with our innovative mindset and ability to design optimal structures tailored to the legal and business objectives of our clients.
Our M&A practice is supported by other specialized legal teams across the Firm’s practice areas which allows us to provide a 360-degree analysis of all transaction-related aspects including Antitrust, Tax, Regulatory, Capital Markets, Banking & Finance, Data Privacy, Real Estate, Environmental, employee benefits and dispute resolution. Our Finance team’s expertise is just as strong, thus cementing our ability to also offer acquisition financing support in domestic, as well as cross-border transactions.
We represent the full range of market participants: purchasers, sellers, target companies, financial advisors, sponsors and stakeholders in domestic and international transactions, including mergers, divisions spin offs, share deals, asset deals, transfers of going concerns, conversions and shareholder agreements. Regardless of how complicated the structure and nature of the deal at hand, we are always ready to embrace the challenges that an M&A transaction may present, and are proud to possess the transaction skills necessary to deliver accurate advice and bespoke solutions tailored to each client’s needs.
Services
In the context of an M&A transaction, our practice covers a wide range of services including, among others, the following:
- assisting on the design and implementation of the transaction structure, with the aim of maximizing efficiency while ensuring regulatory and legal compliance,
- performing legal due diligence services and highlighting legal risks to the transaction,
- negotiation and drafting of all transaction documents, regardless of the stage and structure of the transaction,
- advising on merger control and other regulatory aspects and liaising with regulatory authorities,
- dealing with any other transaction-related aspect with the support of our specialized teams, such as on tax, labour, procurement or dispute relation issues,
- post-closing assistance, including on matters concerning transition and integration of activities.
View Practice Highlights
Our team of experts at Koutalidis Law Firm have advised among others the following:
- Macquarie Asset Management, in a consortium with British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) and MEAG, in its recent €2.5bn acquisition of Reden Solar
- Waterwheel Capital Management in one of the first secondary trades involving an NPL portfolio originated by a Greek Bank. Eurobank S.A. completed the securitisation of the €3.2bn Mexico Portfolio consisting predominately of non-performing exposures of residential mortgage loans.
- Macquarie Group in completing the acquisition of a 49% ownership interest in the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator SA (HEDNO), one of the largest privatizations to have ever taken place in Greece valued at €2.1bn.
- Viva Wallet on reaching an agreement with J.P. Morgan for its acquisition of around 49% in the Greek fintech company.
- Cohn Robbins Holdings Corp. (NYSE: CRHC), a blank check company, in connection with the public listing on the NYSE of Allwyn Entertainment (the new group-wide brand of SAZKA Entertainment AG), a leading multinational lottery operator and majority shareholder of OPAP.
- United Group B.V. on a EUR 980 million acquisition of the Greek telecoms operator WIND Hellas.
- Nexi S.p.A on its agreement with Alpha Bank SA for the establishment of a strategic long-term partnership for Alpha Bank’s merchant acquiring business unit in Greece.
- SouthBridge on the first investment concluded by its recently launched new investment fund, SouthBridge Europe Mezzanine II SCA SICAR, in the company Biologiko Xorio, the Greek market leader in organic food product supply and distribution.
- Interxion, a member of the Digital Realty Group, with more than 4,000 clients, in over 284 data centers across 24 countries, in connection with the acquisition of Lamda Hellix S.A. , the largest colocation and interconnection provider in Greece, hosting in its two-data center campuses in Athens approximately two-thirds of Greek data center communities.
- Alpha Bank, Eurobank, National Bank of Greece and Piraeus Bank in their capacity as sellers on the sale of equity and debt restructuring of the Greek sea farm companies Nireus S.A. and Selonda S.A..
- The sellers (including Southbridge Europe Mezzanine Investment Fund and the founding shareholders of Skroutz SA) on the sale of a significant minority stake in Skroutz S.A. to CVC Capital Partners.
- Southbridge Europe Mezzanine Investment Fund on the sale of Arivia Group to Upfield Group BV.
- Eurobank Ergasias S.A. on the sale of 80% in Eurobank Financial Planning Services S.A. to doValue S.p.A.
- Kanakis family (in their capacity as sellers) on the sale of 100% in Stelios Kanakis S.A.to Orkla Food Ingredients AS (OFI)Damco Energy S.A. (member of the Copelouzos Group) on the sale of 10% in Senfluga S.A. to Damco Energy S.A.
WHO TO CONTACT
