Blackstone prepares for CIRSA IPO in Madrid
The investment group plans to list CIRSA on the Madrid stock exchange in 2025.
Spain.- It’s been reported that Blackstone has signed up several banks to prepare a Madrid IPO for the Spanish gambling operator CIRSA. The operator would be listed on Madrid stock exchange in early 2025.
According to the business media site Expansión, “Blackstone has enlisted a fleet of banks” to capitalise the IPO, including both Spanish and international entities. It says the plan is to list 20 to 25 per cent of shares rather than all of the shares and aims to raise between €700m and €1bn.
Lazard has been appointed as financial advisor, and Barclays, Deutsche Bank, and Morgan Stanley lead capital for global markets.
The investment group bought CIRSA its founder Manuel Lao Hernandez for €2bn in 2018. The private equity group carried out a complete restructuring of the operator, which has seen it beat market expectations since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic.
For this year, the company expects to meet a full-year net revenue target of €2bn and EBITDA of €680 to 710m. CIRSA runs over 30,0000 gambling machines at leisure and hospitality venues in Spain along with 40 bingo halls, six casinos and 237 arcades. In July, the group bought a 70 per cent stake in Peru’s Apuesta Total, making it the country’s biggest operator now with 500 betting points and an online sportsbook as well as 19 casinos and 3,200 slot machines.
Revenue for the first half surpassed $1bn, with casino revenue up 6 per cent at €478m and Spanish slots revenue up by 4 per cent at €208m. The operator noted that it had introduced a new CRM strategy for casino customers and had improved the commercial model for its slot distribution business in Spain.
Betting revenue was down by 3.4 per cent despite Euro 2024, but the group said its acquisition of Apuesta Total would revive betting revenue in South America. Apuesta Total registered more than €100m in gross gaming revenue in 2023.
