Zepos & Yannopoulos

Managing Partners: Dimitris Zepos / Yerassimos Yannopoulos

Number of partners: 37

Number of fee earners: 132

Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish

Firm Overview:

Zepos & Yannopoulos is a Greek leading law firm and one of the oldest in the country, established in 1893. Renowned for its long heritage, legal acumen and integrity, Zepos & Yannopoulos has a strong international orientation which is echoed in its structure, standards and approach, ultimately attested in the profile of its client base, rankings and network affiliations. Zepos & Yannopoulos is the Greek member firm of several prestigious international organisations such as Lex Mundi, Taxand and Trace.

Finance & Capital Markets:

The practice encompasses all key financial law areas, namely NPL management and disposal, structured finance, real estate financing, corporate lending, project finance, as well as credit institutions supervision and regulation. On the capital markets side the firm is active on both debt and equity capital market transactions, take-over bids and regulatory and compliance advice. The firm offers clients combined legal and tax support on the most innovative financial and capital markets transactions with an emphasis on cross border deals.

Corporate Law & Compliance:

The firm assists multinational clients to form subsidiaries, branches or joint ventures in Greece. Many of its clients are Fortune 500 companies and entrust the firm with their regular support with respect to their operations in Greece. The firm advises clients on the optimal legal vehicle to be selected for their operations and works closely together with the commercial and consumer law practice to provide support on the legal arrangements and issues to be addressed for the operation of a business in Greece. It provides assistance in corporate governance, advising shareholders and Board of Directors on management processes, rights, obligations and potential liability, as well as on regulatory compliance. The firm has also significant expertise in restructuring and insolvency, indicatively including, bankruptcy, restructuring and out- of-court workouts.

Commercial & Consumer Law:

The firm provides advice on a wide array of matters of commercial and consumer law including commercial contracts for the sale and supply of goods and services, leases, licenses, agency and distribution matters, intellectual property, E-commerce, product safety and consumer protection.

Tax & Accounting:

The firm’s top tier tax and accounting practice, consisting of a team of over 40 experts with academic backgrounds in law, economics and accounting covers all aspects of tax, from transactional advisory to preparation and filing of tax returns, through the following specific areas of expertise: business tax advisory, compliance and accounting services, M&A and international tax, real estate, VAT and indirect tax, banking, finance and capital markets, transfer pricing, tax controversy and litigation.

M&A & Projects:

The firm advises multinational companies as well as local enterprises in connection with all corporate, financing and tax aspects of mergers and acquisitions. Advisory and implementation services are provided, indicatively, for cross-border and domestic consolidations, restructurings, mergers, demergers, share and asset deals, buy-outs, spin-offs, transformations of companies, joint ventures and strategic alliances, as well as exit strategies and post-integration corporate services.

Dispute Resolution:

The firm’s dispute resolution practice, represents prominent international clients conducting business in Greece or involved in litigation and arbitration proceedings, before all courts and at all levels of jurisdiction, including domestic and international arbitral tribunals. The firm has an excellent track record in successful representation of clients in cases involving breach of contract, termination of agency and distribution agreements and enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards, while it regularly represents clients in anti-trust, unfair competition, product liability, employment, intellectual and industrial property, real estate, commercial leases and tort related cases.

Antitrust & Competition:

The firm advises Greek and foreign companies in relation to antitrust, including cartel investigations, dawn raids, sector specific inquiries, compliance, horizontal and vertical agreements and abuse of dominance. Assistance in relation to merger control, including filings and remedies implementation, and advice on State aid rules are included in the practice’s expertise. The firm also represents clients in litigation cases concerning competition law before Greek and EU courts including actions for damages before Greek civil Courts for violations of antitrust rules. Commercial awareness and knowledge of the industries whose regulations interact with competition law including the industries of electronic communications, energy and transport add to the practice’s strength.

Energy:

The energy practice, widely recognised as one of the leading energy law practices in Greece, covers all industry sectors: electricity (thermal and renewables), natural gas and upstream/downstream oil and related legal areas (regula- tory, contractual, M&A, operational issues). The firm also stands out for its in-depth experience in specialised work, such as in privatisations of state-owned energy companies and in hydrocarbon exploration related matters.

Employment & Labour:

The firm provides the full range of advisory, compliance and litigation services to clients on all aspects of employment and labour. The firm advises on recruitments, terminations, collective redundancies, restructuring issues, benefits, stock options, transfers of undertakings, cross border employment issues, employee handbooks, relations with unions and collective labour relations and immigration issues. The firm also offers advice to senior executives in relation to compensation and benefits and business immigration.

Real Estate:

The firm provides legal and tax services in relation to every aspect of real estate: acquisitions and disposals, construction and development, lease and tenancy, investment and divestment structuring, M&A and joint ventures, real estate finance, asset backed transactions, RE backed NPL portfolios and asset management. Services include real estate investments structuring, real estate due diligence, undertaking of procedures and implementation of deeds for real estate acquisitions and disposals, real estate related advice on regulatory and tax issues, real estate related tax compliance, negotiation and drafting of leases and other long term agreements.

Private Clients:

The firm provides tax and legal services to wealthy individuals, families, family offices, entrepreneurs and business owners, private banks, art collectors, senior executives, private philanthropic foundations in the following areas: wealth planning, compliance, dispute resolution and litigation, change of residence, shipping, private banking, family law, executives, real estate, art and cultural property, philanthropy and charitable giving.

Main Areas of Practice:

Antitrust & Competition

Business Crimes & Investigations

Commercial & Consumer Law

Corporate Law & Compliance

Customs & Trade

Data Protection & Cybersecurity

Dispute Resolution

Employment & Labour

Finance & Capital Markets

M&A & Project Development

Private Clients

Public Procurement & Concessions

Real Estate

Restructuring & Insolvency

Tax & Accounting

Automotive

Energy

Healthcare, Pharma & Life Sciences

Tech, Media & Telecom

Insurance

Non Profit & Education

Retail, Luxury & Consumer

Tourism & Leisure

Transport, Logistics & Aviation