Blackstone prepares Cirsa for Madrid listing amid market shifts
Blackstone-owned gambling operator Cirsa has unveiled plans for a €460 million initial public offering on Spanish stock exchanges, marking Madrid’s first major listing since late 2024.
Cirsa is planning to raise €400 million through newly issued shares, along with a €60 million secondary offering. The money will go towards paying off debt and funding growth plans. The move comes after earlier market turbulence led to a delay, but now suggests renewed confidence in Spain’s gaming sector, where Cirsa remains a major player in 바카라s, betting shops and arcades.
The IPO structure and strategic aims
Cirsa’s offering will combine fresh capital raising with partial exit by existing investors. According to : “The net proceeds from the primary offering by the Company in an amount of approximately €375 million will be used primarily to accelerate the Company’s proven growth strategy and to repay existing debt.”
This debt repayment will reduce Cirsa’s net leverage ratio to approximately 2.7x EBITDA, down from 3.4x earlier this year following Blackstone’s €280 million refinancing package. Financial heavyweights Morgan Stanley, Barclays, and Deutsche Bank are steering the listing as joint global coordinators.
Business footprint and financial foundations
Operating across Spain, Latin America, Morocco and Italy, with recent expansions into Portugal and Puerto Rico, Cirsa reported robust 2024 financials including €2.15 billion net revenue and €699 million EBITDA.
The company’s diversified portfolio spans 24,000 gaming machines, 170 바카라s, and 1,500 betting establishments. As noted in : “The company operates 바카라s and gambling platforms in Spain, Latin America, Morocco and Italy and entered Portugal and Puerto Rico in 2024.” This geographical spread provides resilience against regional regulatory shifts while capturing growth in emerging markets.
Market context and Blackstone’s strategic moves
The IPO was initially slated for April but got pushed back to the second quarter of 2025 following market jitters tied to global trade disputes and geopolitical tensions. At the same time, Blackstone is reshuffling parts of its portfolio, including a possible sale of Clarion Events, the company behind the ICE iGaming conference.
These parallel processes suggest Blackstone has a broader strategy to capitalise on improving market conditions while streamlining its entertainment holdings.
Cirsa’s upcoming listing could set the tone for how Europe’s gaming sector is valued, with Spain’s regulated market growing at around 7.2 percent a year. But the real test will be investor sentiment, especially with tighter rules coming into play. One example is , which now requires operators to track player spending in real-time.
With the CNMV’s green light still pending and market conditions slowly settling, Cirsa’s IPO signals both a confident push from the company and a broader revival in the sector.
