Spanish business news source El Confidencial has reported that Credit Suisse will likely carry out an operational review of Codere’s position within Argentina, the firm’s biggest operational market which plunged 2018 results due to the Argentine Peso collapse.
Furthermore, news of Credit Suisse’s appointment follows speculation in Spanish media that Codere governance might sanction a sale of the firm’s Italian bingo and arcade properties, as increased GGR taxes have made Italy an unworkable territory for the Spanish legacy gambling group.
Advancing future options, Credit Suisse is reported to be raising ‘necessary financing’ for Codere to form a LatAm strategic partnership with US entertainment and leisure group Hard Rock International.
Securing new capital, Codere governance seeks to entice Hard Rock into a Mexican strategic partnership in which it will operate gambling units within Hard Rock’s four luxury Mexican hotel properties of Cancun, Los Cabos, Cozumel and Lázaro Cárdenas.
Rapid Mexican expansion remains top of Codere governance’s agenda, with Credit Suisse reported to be assessing a potential buyout of Mexican media group Televisa’s 17 ‘Play City’ gambling establishments.
Following an executive team shake-up in 2018, Televisa, Mexico’s biggest multimedia group announced that it would offload its entire Play City gambling división, seeking a “quick US$ 300 million sale”.
Source: GMB / SBC Americas
