According to Spanish business daily, EXPANSIÓN, the board of Codere SA has hired financial advisors Jefferies and Macquarie as it prepares for a sale in the next few weeks.
Codere Online success may attract suitors
The deal for Codere, which is Spain’s second largest business in the industry behind Cirsa, would include its expanding Codere Online arm.
Codere Online has been listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange since 2021 and has experienced some major blips, including delisting notices and threats of suspension.
However, it has now resolved those disputes and reported total 2025 year-on-year revenue growth of 6% from €212m to €224m (£195.2m).
As a whole, Codere’s revenues in 2024 hit €1.3bn, while adjusted EBITDA stood at €179bn. The business is currently owned by around 84 investment funds, with Davidson Kempner’s 13.3% stake the only one of note and the only one above 10%.
This decade, Codere has undergone significant capital restructuring and debt re-engineering of its business.
In 2022, the firm delisted from the Madrid Bolsa to begin extensive recapitalisation negotiations with bondholders tied to its €2bn debt burden. As part of these negotiations, Codere Online was separated from the main Codere Group, allowing bondholders to support a capital raise via the SPAC listing of Codere Online on the US Nasdaq.
Following two years of prolonged negotiations, in 2024 Codere’s bondholders agreed to refinance the company by wiping out 95% of its legacy debt, reducing its balance sheet from €1.7bn to €195m.
Following its deleveraging and return to stable accounts, a new leadership team led by CEO Gonzaga Higuero has stated that it will review all strategic options to reward shareholders, including a potential sale or a return to listing on the Madrid Bolsa.
Spain to clamp down
The move comes at a time of change in Spain, with Andrés Barragán, Secretary General for Consumer Affairs and Gambling, saying last month that companies licensed in the country should prepare for a year of regulatory change and new compliance orders.
The country has some of the strictest regulations in Europe already, but gross gambling revenue (GGR) continues to grow and was up by over 18% year-on-year in Q2 2025.
A sale of Codere to another gambling group may see it surpass Cirsa and international Spanish operators such as Betway and Entain’s bwin as the biggest in the market – although Cirsa has also made it clear that Latin American M&As are on its mind in 2026.
Regardless, with the 2026 World Cup now just around the corner, a deal of this magnitude at this time could make a major splash in what is an already affluent but stringent Spanish market.
Dingnews.com 25/03/2026