In an all-share deal worth €2.8 billion ($3.25B), Lottomatica will buy CIRSA. The Italian company will absorb its Spanish rival and become the second largest publicly traded gambling company.
Lottomatica will pay CIRSA investors 0.668 new shares for each share they tender. Blackstone is currently the main shareholder in CIRSA. It will hold a 24% stake in the new company. The merged business will keep the Lottomatica name. The deal was announced via press release.
Lottomatica has a 30% market share in Italy. CIRSA’s 12% share in Spain is not bad, but Lottomatica will look to grow that further. The announcement came as a surprise, and the market reacted with a drop of nearly 10% for Lottomatica shares.
After the merger, Lottomatica will be the second largest listed gambling company. Only Flutter, which owns brands like FanDuel and PokerStars, is bigger. Lottomatica’s estimated adjusted EBITDA will be roughly €2 billion ($2.32B).