Overview
- The companies have signed a binding cross‑border merger contract that will absorb Spanish operator Cirsa into Italian Lottomatica, with Blackstone signing the deal and committing to vote in favour.
- Cirsa shareholders will receive 0.668 newly issued Lottomatica shares for each Cirsa share, a formula that would leave them with roughly 32.5% of the enlarged company.
- Cirsa plans a pre‑closing extraordinary dividend of about €262 million to be paid out from its share premium before the merger is completed.
- Lottomatica shares will remain listed on Euronext Milan and the firms intend to add listings on Spanish exchanges after closing; the merger is conditional on approvals at both companies’ shareholder meetings, regulatory clearances and limits on shareholders exercising exit rights.
- The combined group is presented as a leading global gaming and sports‑betting operator with a reported adjusted EBITDA near €2 billion and projected annual synergies of about €115 million, a scale that the firms say will support faster online growth and integration of operations.