The Italian Lottomatica absorbs the Catalan Cirsa to create a new global gaming giant

The Catalan company Cirsa has been absorbed by the Italian group Lottomatica in a transatlantic operation that aims to convert the resulting company into one of the world giants of gaming and sports betting. This has been announced by the Terrassa-based firm, which has recalled that with this merger they will be able to reach a much larger market and maintain the leadership that both companies have in Spain and Italy. The company resulting from this merger, which will operate under the name of Lottomatica, will have an accessible market of 34,000 million euros. For their part, the shareholders of Cirsa will receive 0.668 newly issued Lottomatica shares for each Cirsa share they hold and will control 32.5% of the new company.

Cirsa -a company whose majority shareholder is Blackstone- is already a relevant brand in the gaming and betting sector. According to the latest data, the Catalan company operates in 10 countries with approximately 450 casinos, more than 85,000 gaming machines and approximately 2,300 sports betting points, in addition to having online gaming licenses in several countries. On the other hand, Lottomatica has 45,000 million in bets and 2,300 million euros in consolidated revenues in 2025. The company operates in the online segments, where it has 2.2 million customers, and also in sports and gaming franchises. At the end of 2025, it had 17,400 points of sale.

However, if the operation is approved at the shareholders' meetings of the respective companies and endorsed by the regulatory bodies, the company resulting from the merger will become the second largest listed operator in this sector, with a proforma adjusted gross operating profit (EBITDA) of approximately 2,000 million euros. In parallel, both companies also foresee pre-tax results of approximately 115 million euros annually, mainly from savings in operating and financial costs that will arise from the absorption.

A new defined governing body

Regarding the distribution of shareholding, Lottomatica would retain the highest percentage among all its shareholders, with 67.5% control of the new company. Cirsa, on the other hand, would have 32.5% of the shares. In this way, and considering that Blackstone controls the majority of Cirsa's shares, it would predictably become the main shareholder of the resulting group, with approximately 24% of the capital. As announced by both companies, the new company will maintain its headquarters and tax domicile in Rome, where Lottomatica originates. However, Cirsa will have the company's second headquarters, which will be located in the province of Barcelona. The shares will continue to be listed on Euronext Milan, but once the operation is closed, they will be admitted for trading on Spanish stock exchanges.

The board of directors of the new company will be re-formed to take into account all the parties that will make up this firm resulting from the merger. In this way, the governing body will consist of 13 members. The first 11 directors will be the current ones from Lottomatica and the two new ones will be appointed at the proposal of Blackstone, as the main shareholder of Cirsa. Thus, Guglielmo Angelozzi will maintain his position as president and CEO of the new firm, while Antonio Hostench will retain his position as CEO of Cirsa with this second headquarters in the province of Barcelona.

Although both parties have agreed to this acquisition, the operation will still have to overcome some phases. First, the approval of the general shareholders' meetings of Lottomatica and Cirsa is needed, which will be held extraordinarily before the end of 2026, according to the respective firms. Finally, however, the merger will also have to receive authorizations regarding foreign investment, competition, foreign subsidies, and gaming. Company estimates predict that the merger will become effective during the second quarter of 2027.