US Firms Up the Ante in €3B Greek Gaming Deal
One of Europe's largest lottery companies is set to take over Greece's biggest gambling company.
July 16, 2019 at 06:18 AM
2 minute read
OPAP fruit machine, Credit: Flickr
U.S. firms Milbank and Latham & Watkins, alongside Greek firm Karatzas, are leading on the €3 billion ($3.4 billion) sale of Greece's largest gaming company.
Milbank is advising SAZKA Group, one of Europe's fastest-growing gaming companies, on its all-cash offer to acquire Athens-based gambling company OPAP.
The offer values the entire share capital of OPAP at more than €3.1 billion ($3.5 billion). It is, according to a statement from Milbank, the largest all-cash offer in Greece in more than 10 years.
Milbank's team is led by London capital markets partner Apostolos Gkoutzinis and corporate partner Mark Stamp, with support from London co-managing partner Suhrud Mehta, City partners Rebecca Marques and Clive Ransome, Frankfurt partner Mathias Eisen, and Munich antitrust partner Alexander Rinne.
Greek law firm Karatzas, meanwhile, is advising SAZKA with a team led by Athens-based partner Alexandros Metallinos.
Latham is advising the bookrunners involved in the deal, with a team led by corporate partners Brett Cassidy, Fritz Ernemann, Adrian Chiodo, Richard Butterwick and Stephen Kensell.
Latham also turned to local firm Potamitis Vekris for Greek law support.
According to people with knowledge of the deal, OPAP has yet to appoint legal advisers. OPAP did not respond to requests for comment.
SAZKA Group has a significant presence in southeastern Europe, with annual revenues of about €18 billion ($20 billion).
Milbank's Gkoutzinis joined the firm early last year from U.S. rival Shearman & Sterling. In 2013, he led on Piraeus Bank's €8.4 billion (9.4 billion) recapitalisation – one of the largest transactions in Greek financial history.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Deacons Hires Reed Smith’s Banking Partner in Hong Kong
Amazon Corporate Counsel in Brussels Returns to US Firm in ‘Boomerang Hire’
2 minute readTrending Stories
- 1Reviewing Judge Merchan's Unconditional Discharge
- 2With New Civil Jury Selection Rule, Litigants Should Carefully Weigh Waiver Risks
- 3Young Lawyers Become Old(er) Lawyers
- 4Caught In the In Between: A Legal Roadmap for the Sandwich Generation
- 5Top 10 Developments, Lessons, and Reminders of 2024
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
