Blackstone acquires Spain’s Cirsa

Blackstone Group has completed the acquisition of Spanish gambling operator Cirsa.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Cirsa previously said it had hoped to fetch between €2bn ($2.4bn) and €2.5bn via a hedge fund bidding way that began earlier in the year.

Apollo Global Management, a rival hedge fund of Blackstone, had also been linked with a possible deal in recent weeks.

In a joint statement, it was confirmed that Blackstone will now take ownership of Cirsa’s casino, bingo and sports betting operations across Spain, Italy and Latin America.

The deal will not include Cirsa’s business in Argentina, which will continue to operate as a separate entity under Cirsa founder Manuel Lao Hernandez.

The statement also confirmed that Hernandez will now step down as chairman of Cirsa, with Joaquim Agut, who has served as chief executive since 2006, to take on the role.