Spanish-origin casino giant Cirsa–now owned by U.S. venture capitalists Blackstone–made its stock market debut in Barcelona yesterday, raising its market value to €2.7 billion (£2.32bn/US$3.16bn) and with it plans to spend up to a further €500 million (£431.07m/US$585.78m) on Latin American and Iberian acquisitions, iGF has learned from high-level sources.
Amid a positive mini-boom for European retail casino-facing gambling companies, Cirsa’s launch on the Borsa de Barcelona was far from the damp squib that many analysts feared.
The IPO pushed Cirsa’s stock beyond its initial valuation of €2.5 billion (£2.15bn/US$2.92bn), as its shares rose, and then settled around €15.2, with the company raising €400 million (£344.71m/US$468.44m) by issuing 26 million shares.
Founded in 1978 in Terrassa, Catalunya, north-east Spain, by Manuel Lao Hernandez, Cirsa was bought by Blackstone for €2.1 billion (£1.81bn/US$2.45bn) in 2018. It employs just under 15,000 people and is the biggest gambling company on the Iberian Peninsula.
Cirsa, full name Cirsa Gambling Corporation, owns a variety of companies across the gaming and entertainment sectors in 11 countries.
It operates over 171 casinos and hundreds of bingo and gaming halls, with more than 62,000 slot machines, as well as iGaming platforms.
LatAm Big Hitter
Last December it bought a controlling 68 percent stake in CasinoPortugal, which had a GGR of some €15 million (£12.92m/US$17.56m) in 2024.
Cirsa began its international expansion first in the Dominican Republic in 1990, then Venezuela the following year. Today it runs 10 casinos in Mexico, a presence begun in 2005 with the acquisition of Pringsa.
It also owns casinos and casino-resorts in Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Italy and Morocco.
In the past 10-years the omnichannel has spent over €1.2 billion (£1.03bn/US$1.4bn) striking 130 deals.
And under current CEO Antonio Hostench this aggressive expansion looks all set to continue.
“The model appears pretty solid,” a company source told iGamingFuture. “All we have to do is keep buying the right companies.”
Last year Cirsa’s net revenues climbed eight percent to €2.2 billion (£1.89bn/US$2.57bn) and its EBITDA surged by 11 percent to €699 million (£602.4m/US$818.37m), year-over-year.
With fiscals like these, Big Daddy Blackstone will be happy to let its kid keep playing in gambling’s casino sand lot.
