Codere reportedly explores €2bn-plus sale
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- Spanish gambling group Codere has reportedly appointed Jefferies and Macquarie Capital to advise on a potential sale, with the business said to be valued at more than €2bn ($2.32bn)
- According to a report by Expansión, the process would envision indicative bids by mid-May, binding offers in early July, and a deal close before the August summer break
- The transaction would include Codere Online, the group’s Nasdaq-listed digital unit, which reported preliminary unaudited NGR of €224.1m and adjusted EBITDA of €13.8m for full-year 2025
Spain’s second-largest gambling and leisure group, Codere, is reportedly exploring a full sale of the business in a process that could value the company at more than €2bn ($2.32bn), according to a report by Spanish financial newspaper Expansión.
Reuters and other outlets have since reported on the Expansión-sourced process, citing multiple market sources familiar with the situation.
The Madrid-headquartered group has reportedly engaged Jefferies and Macquarie Capital to manage the process. Neither Codere nor Jefferies responded to Reuters’ requests for comment. Macquarie declined to comment.
Reported deal timeline
Market sources familiar with the situation, as reported by Expansión, indicate that the process would envision indicative bids by mid-May, binding offers around early July, and a deal targeted for completion before the August summer break. The process remains at an exploratory stage, and no formal auction has been confirmed.
The reported transaction would include Codere Online, the group’s Nasdaq-listed digital unit. In its preliminary unaudited full-year results released on 26 February 2026, Codere Online reported a 6% year-on-year increase in net gaming revenue for 2025, reaching €224.1m, up from €212m in 2024.
Mexico accounted for €119.1m of that total, representing 53% of group NGR, with Spain contributing €90.5m, or around 40%. Full-year adjusted EBITDA reached €13.8m, more than double the €6.4m recorded in 2024. The company has guided for 2026 NGR of €235m–€245m and adjusted EBITDA of €15m–€20m.
Codere operates in regulated markets across Spain, Italy, Argentina, Mexico, Panama, Colombia, and Uruguay, across both land-based and online channels. It ranks as Spain’s second-largest gambling and leisure group, behind Cirsa.
Ownership and bidder pool
The company is currently held by approximately 84 investment funds following a 2024 debt-for-equity restructuring that transferred control away from the founding Martínez Sampedro family.
The 2024 restructuring was the fifth Codere had undertaken in recent years. The recapitalisation was approved in June 2024 by 90% of Codere’s creditors, who agreed to reduce the company’s debt to roughly €190m.
The company subsequently finalised its Global Recapitalisation Programme, reducing its corporate debt to approximately €65m. The process eliminated the bulk of a debt pile that had stood at around €1.6bn prior to the deal.
Davidson Kempner holds the largest stake at 13.3%, ahead of Palmerston Capital, Deltroit, System 2 Capital, and Invesco. These stake figures have not been independently confirmed through a Codere filing.
The potential buyer pool spans both industrial operators and financial investors. ESG-related constraints among some private equity investors may limit the number of interested parties. Analysts suggests PE appetite for gambling assets is strengthening in 2026, supported by softer interest rates in Europe and clearer regulatory frameworks in key markets.
Strategic implications
If completed, the transaction would rank among the most significant gambling M&A deals in Europe in recent years, providing creditor-turned-shareholder funds with a structured exit following the 2024 restructuring.
For any acquirer, the deal would deliver immediate scale across regulated markets in Southern Europe and Latin America, geographies currently attracting sustained operator interest on the back of regulatory maturity and structural growth.
The inclusion of Codere Online in the reported scope means any buyer would acquire not just a land-based gambling network but also a Nasdaq-listed online unit that is generating increasing profit.
That combination could attract a wider range of buyers, including large listed gaming operators looking to add a ready-built digital presence across Spain and Latin America, rather than building from scratch. The depth of that buyer pool remains uncertain, however, as a growing number of investment firms operate under policies that restrict or prohibit exposure to the gambling sector.
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