Antoniou McCollum & Co. LLC

Antoniou McCollum & Co. is a top-tier Cyprus law firm advising on corporate law, competition law, finance law, intellectual property law and regulatory matters.

The firm’s tight-knit team delivers bespoke legal services across major business sectors, focusing on private equity, technology, media and telecommunications, banking and consumer retail.

The firm prides itself on forming strong client relationships premised on integrity and a commitment to delivering the highest quality legal services.

Finance law

The firm advises borrowers and lenders on corporate financing transactions, secured financing, debt sales and distressed lending and trading, debt and equity restructuring, and collateral security enforcement.

Antoniou McCollum & Co. is highly versed in the regulatory framework governing credit institutions, investment funds, financial service providers and credit-acquiring companies, advising clients on all aspects from authorisation and licensing to ongoing compliance and operations.

Our track record includes:

• acting for global private equity firms in secured corporate financing and refinancing transactions
• acting for financial institutions in the sale and purchase of bank loan portfolios
• acting for global debt management players on NPL acquisition and servicing matters, including advising on the establishment of the first NPL servicing platform in Cyprus
• advising on secured finance transactions involving facilities secured by floating charges, account charges, share pledges, assignments
• advising on the enforcement of security in financing transactions
• advising on asset-backed securitisations
• registering alternative investment funds, alternative investment fund managers and advising on cross-border passporting.

Corporate law

Antoniou McCollum & Co. routinely advises and acts for clients in:

• mergers and acquisitions
• private equity transactions
• takeovers and divestments
• listings of securities and bonds on regulated markets
• joint ventures
• asset sales.

The firm consistently acts for some of the biggest global private equity firms, multinational corporations and investment funds. We carry out comprehensive due diligence, advise on deal structuring, draft transaction documents and engage in regulatory problem-solving and implementation.

Antoniou McCollum & Co. advises on all aspects of Cyprus corporate law, including issues relating to share capital and classes of shares, dividends, redeemable equity, shareholder rights and directors’ duties.  We also deal with corporate insolvency matters, including liquidations, receiverships, examinerships and restructurings.

Competition law and merger control

Antoniou McCollum & Co. is recognised as one of the leading competition practices in Cyprus.

The firm’s expertise includes:

• merger control filings and clearances in Phase I and Phase II assessments
• advising on cartels and anticompetitive practices
• advising on abuses of dominance
• advising on abuses of economic relationship
• advising and representing clients in proceedings before the Cypriot competition authority, the European Commission, and the courts of Cyprus and the EU
• supporting clients in dawn raids
• advising on in-house competition compliance
• advising on State aid matters
• acting for clients in leniency and immunity cases.

The firm has consistently advised Fortune 500 companies and multinational corporations on merger control matters. It undertakes the filing and clearance of mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures with the relevant competition authorities.

Technology, Media and Telecommunications

We advise multinational clients active in:

• content streaming and other audiovisual media services
• video-sharing platforms
• telecommunications and mobile services
• online commerce in goods and services
• media and advertising
• generative artificial intelligence.

The areas in which we provide expert legal advice include:

• consumer law matters
• copyright, related rights and licensing matters
• regulatory compliance
• B2C and B2B contracts, including terms of use, terms of sale and terms of service
• unfair commercial practices and misleading advertising
• cybersecurity and essential infrastructure
• artificial intelligence (including generative AI) applications
• GDPR and data protection.

In privacy matters, the firm has a broad track record of advising clients on data protection matters, including data transfers, profiling, data breaches, proceedings before regulators and privacy litigation, and compliance with the GDPR and Cyprus data protection laws.

Intellectual Property

We advise on copyright concerning digital content, user-generated content, audiovisual media services, artwork, literature, music, film, software and databases, including issues relating to intermediary liability.

We specialise in EU copyright and related rights matters and have extensive expertise in dealing with the novel challenges faced by online platforms, marketplaces and video-sharing platforms.

We have a thriving trademarks practice and advise on the registration, renewal, assignment, enforcement and exploitation of trademarks in Cyprus and the EU.

Energy and Environment

Antoniou McCollum & Co. advises multinational companies and international organisations on energy and environmental law matters, including climate change.

Highlights of our recent work include:

• acting for a multinational oil and gas company on the licensing of hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation
• advising a global climate change firm on EU and Cyprus regulatory matters
• advising a multinational oil and gas company on issues under the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the legality of drilling activities in disputed territorial waters
• advising a global organisation on forest protection law.

Sanctions and Investigations

Antoniou McCollum & Co. has a strong track record in successfully handling matters involving sanctions and restrictive measures.

We advise clients on transactions affected by sanctions and represent parties that may have breached sanctions before authorities.

We deal with a wide range of regulatory investigations, from tax investigations to market abuse, sanctions breaches and anticompetitive conduct.