GREECE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Claire Pavlou, Katerina Tzamalouka and Angeliki Papadaki, Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm
Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm Dim. Soutsou 28 street
Athens Greece Tel: +30 210 817 1500 Email: kg.law@kglawfirm.gr Web: kglawfirm.gr
Introduction Greece’s economy is growing at a moderate but steady pace as it enters 2026. Following the debt cri - sis of the previous decade, the country has emerged as one of the more dynamic jurisdictions in the Euro - pean legal and commercial landscape. The environ - ment is defined by economic expansion, accelerat - ing investment, and an increasingly dense regulatory framework driven by EU law. The European Commission’s Spring Economic Fore - casts indicate that Greece will continue to outperform the EU and eurozone averages, even as the country’s economic growth is expected to gradually moder - ate from 2.1% in 2025 to 1.8% in 2026 and 1.6% in 2027, mainly due to rising energy costs. Economic growth and investment are projected to remain strong in 2026, driven mainly by sustained investment inflows and the continued deployment of funds, particularly under the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The imperative to complete all RRF milestones by August 2026 is driving the pace and priorities of pub - lic procurement, infrastructure delivery and several key sectors, including energy, technology, healthcare, gaming and hospitality. This economic momentum has produced a corre - sponding surge in transactional activity and regula - tory output. The Greek M&A market reached unprec - edented levels in 2025, recording record deal volumes and values across a wide range of sectors. At the same time, the legislative landscape has undergone substantial transformation, with new frameworks gov - erning foreign direct investment screening, corporate governance, capital markets, employment, market
surveillance, and sustainability all coming into force in rapid succession. For businesses operating in Greece – whether domestic companies or international inves - tors – the environment is simultaneously opportunity- rich and compliance-intensive. This article aims to provide an overview of the key trends, developments and challenges for doing busi - ness in Greece in 2026. 2025: An Exceptional Year for M&A – Setting the Scene for 2026 Greece experienced robust M&A activity in 2025, with landmark transactions mainly across financial servic - es, healthcare, energy, gaming, technology, hospitality and real estate. Several defining deals characterised the year, including the following: • financial services – Piraeus Bank’s acquisition of Ethniki Insurance for EUR600 million; • capital markets – the majority stake acquisition of the Athens Stock Exchange (ATHEX) by Euronext for approximately EUR400 million, which marked a structural integration of the Greek capital market into the pan-European trading infrastructure, with far-reaching implications for listed companies and investors alike; • healthcare sector – the 60% acquisition of Hellenic Healthcare Group – the leading private healthcare provider in Greece and Cyprus – by Abu Dhabi- based Pure Health Holding for approximately EUR800 million; • energy sector – the completion of the 100% acqui - sition of TERNA ENERGY by Masdar – valuing the company at approximately EUR3.2 billion follow -
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