Elite
While counsel to Esso and Shell in the 1970s, John Dryllerakis was practising competition law in Greece before the country even had an antitrust regime. The former member of the authority is still going strong and leads the practice at DRYLLERAKIS & ASSOCIATES, where he works alongside his son Emmanuel Dryllerakis and Cleomenis Yannikas.
The firm is involved in most of the country’s big cases, including investigations in the food, beer, poultry and cosmetics sectors. In 2016, it acted for FCC Constructions, Salini Impregilo and Ch D Constantinidis in an investigation into an alleged 45-member bid-rigging cartel in the country’s construction industry. Other important behavioural work includes advising the Carlsberg-owned Olympic Brewery in its abuse of dominance complaint to the authority against Athenian Brewery; the latter is appealing against a €31 million fine, in a case that is still pending before the Athens Administrative Court of Appeal. The team represents leading retailer Hondos Center in an investigation into selective distribution channels and secured a 90% fine reduction for the poultry industry’s trade association after an investigation into alleged anticompetitive horizontal agreements in the sector.
The firm acts for LARCO Mining & Metallurgical in a complex arbitration dispute with PPC, the state-owned electricity incumbent, which involves abuse of dominance and state aid concerns relating to PPC’s pricing practices. Few mergers now take place in Greece, although the firm has been active in a handful in recent years. The team was instructed by Carlsberg in its acquisition of the Mythos and Olympic breweries in 2014, securing unconditional clearance.