Cirsa, one of the largest international groups in the gaming and leisure sector, continues to get bigger. The Spain-based company has just closed two new agreements that will allow it to expand its presence in Morocco and Italy.
It’s been a busy couple of months for Cirsa. The company, which Blackstone purchased in 2018, has taken over the management of a casino in the Moroccan city of Tangier. This will allow it to operate from now on with three casinos in the country.
While the ink was drying on that contract, Cirsa acquired 60% of Italian online gaming and sports betting company Eplay24. Cirsa has been operating in the country since 1997, and it is its largest European market apart from Spain.
Cirsa Taking Over
The Tangier Casino, the only one in the city, has an area of 2,000 square meters (21,527 square feet) across three floors. It is part of the Mövenpick Hotel & Casino Malabata complex and offers 215 gaming machines and over 25 tables.
Cirsa will operate the casino through a management contract. This will allow it to expand its presence in the country, where it has two casinos, the Atlantic and Le Mirage. Both of these are in the tourist city of Agadir, and reopened in May following a two-year closure due to COVID-19.
Cirsa has been working on the Eplay24 acquisition since last year. The deal cleared one of its last remaining hurdles in May. The Italian Competition Authority gave it the green light, allowing Cirsa to move ahead.
Cirsa Brand and Communications Director Georginia Teixido told Casino.org that the company is focusing its M&A activity on the online segment, explaining that this is where Cirsa is focusing much of its efforts. Teixido added that the acquisition of Eplay24 will be a key element of its omnichannel expansion strategy in all the regions it serves.
Malta-based Eplay24 has just a small piece of the Italian online gaming market. Its focus is the sports betting sector, which Cirsa has experience in through its Sportium brand. The 40% of the company Cirsa isn’t buying will remain in the hands of the founders of the company.
In 2020, according to data Cirsa supplied as it negotiated the takeover, Eplay24’s market share was only between 1-5%. However, the acquisition will still allow Cirsa to gain ground in the country and continue its expansion efforts.
Cirsa’s Financial Health Improves
Cirsa announced its expansion as it also reported strong recovery in its income. In the first half of 2022, Cirsa saw its turnover practically double. This resulted in operating income of €778 million (US$777.53 million).
This is 92% more than in the same period last year. Consequently, its results have also skyrocketed, with a half-year EBITDA of €250 million (US$249.82 million), a year-on-year improvement of 128%. Moreover, Cirsa added that the operating profit is 18.8% better than it was in the second quarter of 2019. That was before the gaming industry began dealing with COVID-19.
The company has attributed the improvement in results to the implementation of countermeasures against COVID-19 in its different business units. In addition, it highlighted that it has been able to operate in all the countries where it is present “under normal conditions in terms of operating hours and of other restrictions.”
In the nine countries where it operates, Cirsa has 150 casinos. Several are in Colombia, Panama, Mexico and Peru. In Spain, it has six. They’re spread out across the country and include Gran Casino Costa Brava, located in Lloret de Mar in Girona, and Casino Marbella in Marbella.
In addition to the network of casinos, Cirsa operates more than 82,000 recreational gaming machines. This is apart from its 78 bingo halls, 243 game rooms and almost 3,000 sports betting shops. Circas also operates in the online gaming space, and is also a manufacturer of recreational machines for bars and game rooms through its Unidesa subsidiary.
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