Established in 1930, Koutalidis Law Firm is a leading Greek firm. It has a team of 45 lawyers including 10 partners based in Athens who among them have individuals fluent in English, German, French, Spanish and Italian, in addition to Greek.
Focusses / specialisms
The firm is capable across all areas of transactional work but specialises in banking and project development. It regularly works for Greek systemic banks and assisted the Greek National Bank in its first securitised NPL (non-performing loan) portfolio transaction.
The firm often works for domestic and international clients as local counsel on international deals.
Key clients
Among its clients are BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE, HSBC Continental Europe, J.P. Morgan, Nomura Financial Products Europe, Alpha Bank, Barclays Bank Ireland, Citigroup Global Markets Europe, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, Morgan Stanley Europe and BNP Paribas.
Research period review: 33rd edition (2023/2024)
During the research period the firm was active in banking and finance, capital markets, corporate and M&A, and project development.
In banking and finance, it has advised both the lending and the borrowing side on acquisition financing, direct financing and bond loans. It was particularly active in the field of project financing. The firm’s clients came from industries such as energy, transportation and financial services.
The capital markets team has been receiving both debt and equity mandates with the debt side mostly advising issuers of bonds and notes. On the equity side the firm advised on some notable IPOs.
In M&A, the firm advised on acquisitions in a broad range of sectors, including gaming, technology and telecommunications, real estate, logistics, and pharmaceuticals. It also advised merging parties.
In terms of project development work, the team advised developers, bidders and sponsors on projects in various industries, most notably in the energy and infrastructure sectors.
Deal highlights: 33rd edition (2023/2024)
Athens International Airport €1 million refinancing
Safe Bulkers €100 million bond issue
National Bank of Greece $32 million acquisition
Client feedback: 33rd edition (2023/2024)
Banking and finance
"Efficient."
"Prompt, clear, available."
Capital markets
"The Koutalidis team's long-standing relationship with the bank has provided it with very good knowledge of the bank's needs and documents, so they are equipped to give their feedback and legal advice tailored to bank's best fit requirements."
"Legal knowledge, cooperation and hard work."
"Koutalidis Law Firm provided expert advice on complex legal issues, they provided all necessary legal input documentation on time and to very high standards."
Financial restructuring
"Koutalidis Law Firm offers a significantly high level of service in terms of response time, business acumen/industry knowledge, appropriateness of advice, strength-in-depth of team and value for money. The depth and breadth of their knowledge ensures that they are able to support every client’s business needs successfully and provide high-quality, innovative legal solutions in the increasingly complex area of legislation and practice."
M&A
"Very smart, experienced, commercial, good negotiators, proactive and responsive."
"Koutalidis is a very good law firm and a perfect choice for cross-border transactions that require Greek law support. They are very quick, pragmatic, have specialists in the relevant legal fields and are very proactive in supporting a transaction. This has been the case for many years. When I need their support they respond in five minutes and always put me in touch with the right lawyer at the firm. I can really recommend Koutalidis for legal support in Greece."
"Deep knowledge of M&A deals, sound legal expertise, hands-on approach, proactivity, approachable to client."
"They are experts with regards to corporate law and M&A. They helped our client in the negotiations with the fund and secured our client's interests in the best possible way."
"The practice consists of highly knowledgeable and business-orientated professionals who are eager to meet clients' needs and expectations. The team is very detailed and agile and is able to address the particularities of each deal successfully."
"The corporate/M&A team at Koutalidis are smart, proactive and commercially minded. They provide a full-suite service to ensure that all aspects of an M&A transaction are covered properly and to the highest level. Furthermore, they remain engaged and attentive to the customer's needs and priorities."
PPP/PFI
"Great knowledge of relevant law, relentless in achieving targets."
"Very good knowledge of the jurisdiction and industry knowledge, offering solutions in any issue arising during the execution of the project financings."
Project development
"Good knowledge of the local stakeholders and the highways and infrastructure sector in Greece."
"Good legal knowledge."
Yiannis Kantas
"Multilingual, proficient in PPP law, outstanding ability to understand business stakes."
"Good technical skills. Depth of knowledge of the public/regulatory law-related matters."
Ioannis Kaptanis
"Ioannis Kaptanis is an excellent legal adviser with numerous strengths and qualities, such as correct judgement, analytical skills, creativity, perseverance and commitment."
"Good legal knowledge."
Chrysanthi Karlou
"Very smart, experienced/commercial, personable, effective, analytical and good communicator."
"Excellent corporate lawyer. Highly intelligent and commercially minded. She is also driven, responsive and very attentive to the customer's transaction objectives and pressure points. Chrysanthi was an invaluable component to ensuring we successfully completed the transaction."
Nikos Koritsas
"He is a senior and very experienced lawyer; very entrepreneurial and hands-on despite his seniority. Very proactive and business-minded. Whenever I call him, he will support me right away. Easily reachable; quick and precise; a real leader."
Georgia Koutsoukou
"Legal knowledge. Solving problems. Excellent cooperation."
Yiannis Loizos
"Extremely good knowledge of M&A deals, sharp-minded, very thorough, excellent communication skills."
"Yiannis is very knowledgeable and has a business-orientated mindset that makes him able to address the particularities of each deal successfully."
Effie Papoutsi
"She is available when needed, very well structured and organised, knows her job in depth and advises in a very comprehensive way when needed."
"Deep legal knowledge."
Maria Petropoulou
"Tenacity, hard work, knowledgeable, client-orientated, friendly."
Nikos Salakas
"In-depth knowledge of capital markets transactions."
"Very good knowledge regarding project financings, offering very good solutions in any issue arising during the transaction."
"He is very analytical, excellent communication skills, reliable, trustworthy, very good legal knowledge."
