Cirsa, a Spanish multinational leader in the gaming and leisure sector, faces a new transformation just fourteen months after its IPO. The company founded in Terrassa will be absorbed by the Italian Lottomatica in a deal that will create the second largest publicly traded gaming and sports betting group in the world, with a combined adjusted EBITDA close to 2 billion euros.
The absorption will mean that the current shareholders of the Catalan company will receive shares of Lottomatica and will jointly control around 32.5% of the resulting group. The current owners of Lottomatica will retain the remaining 67.5%, both companies detailed in a statement.
Legally, the operation will be carried out through a cross-border merger by absorption, which means that Cirsa will cease to exist as an independent company and all its business will be integrated into Lottomatica, which will continue to be the listed company. The group will keep its name and will have its registered, central, and tax headquarters in Rome, although it will retain a second central office of Cirsa in the province of Barcelona.
Cirsa will cease to exist as an independent company and its business will be integrated into Lottomatica
The boards of directors of both companies have already agreed on the main terms of the operation and have signed a binding merger agreement along with Blackstone, the majority owner of Cirsa. For each Cirsa share, its owners will receive 0.668 new Lottomatica shares.
Precisely, Blackstone will have a relevant role in the new stage. The American fund, which bought Cirsa from its founder, Manuel Lao, in 2018, and maintained control after taking it public last year, is not leaving the company now. Its stake in Cirsa will be transformed into approximately 24% of Lottomatica’s capital, making it the largest individual shareholder of the new group. Additionally, it will be able to propose two members of a board of directors made up of 13 people.
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The union will create a group with close to 2 billion euros of adjusted EBITDA
The combination will unite the gaming leaders in Italy and Spain and will result in a company with nine leadership positions in different markets. The two companies estimate that the integration will achieve annual synergies of around 115 million euros, mainly through savings in operating and financial costs. One of the main objectives will also be to accelerate the growth of Cirsa’s online business.
“With the combination of Lottomatica and Cirsa, we create the undisputed leader in Italy and Spain,” said Guglielmo Angelozzi, chairman and CEO of Lottomatica, who highlights the growth opportunities of the new group, especially in the online business. Antonio Hostench, CEO of Cirsa, has assured that the operation creates “a diversified world-class gaming sector leader” with “significant opportunities to accelerate profitable growth.”
The companies estimate that the integration will generate 115 million euros annually in synergies
The merger comes at a time of growth for Cirsa. The company closed the first half of 2026 with revenues of 1.26 billion euros, up 9.1%; an EBITDA of 396 million, 8.4% higher; and a net profit of 94.7 million, up 84.9%. The group currently operates in ten countries and has about 450 casinos, more than 85,000 gaming machines, and around 2,300 sports betting points, in addition to the online business.
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