EC approves Cirsa acquisition

The commission approved the sale of Spain’s Cirsa to investment group Blackstone.

Spain.- The European Commission has revealed that the acquisition of Cirsa Gaming Corporation by Blackstone, the investment group, has been approved under the Merger Regulation. The deal was confirmed by Cirsa’s current owner, Manuel Lao Hernández, back in April.

The Commission said that the proposed acquisition would not raise competitions concerns because of the limited impact that it would have on market structure. The operation was conducted by a simple review procedure that usually takes place with low profile cases, such as Lao Hernández’s company.

The investment company and global alternative asset manager based in the United States will be taking over one of the world’s biggest gaming groups in Europe, Morocco and Latin America. The company currently owns casinos, bingo halls, gaming machines, distribution companies and arcades. Months before the operation started taking its course, there were rumours of a possible merger between Codere and Luckia, but were later denied by both companies.