On 2 September Lottomatica and Cirsa announced an all-share merger. Cirsa shareholders receive 0.668 new Lottomatica shares per Cirsa share, valuing Cirsa at about EUR 2.8 billion, or roughly six times expected 2026 EBITDA. The combined group will have pro forma EBITDA of around EUR 2 billion and be the second-largest listed gaming and betting operator globally. Lottomatica holders will own 67.5% and Cirsa holders 32.5%, with Blackstone at about 24% of the combined company. Cirsa pays a EUR 262 million dividend before closing. Synergies are put at EUR 115 million a year by year three. Closing is expected in the second quarter of 2027.
A year ago Cirsa was listing in Madrid at EUR 2.5 billion. Now it is being absorbed in shares at a modest premium to that. A few takeaways.
Six times EBITDA is what listed consolidators are paying for scale in regulated European gaming. That is the benchmark a private operator’s price expectation will be tested against, whatever the growth story.
Sponsors are exiting through mergers rather than cash sales. Blackstone rolls into the combined group instead of taking cash out. When debt is expensive, paper is the currency.
On that point, the ECB raised rates again on 10 September, to a 2.50% deposit rate, the second increase in a quarter after euro area inflation reached 3.3% in August. Economists expect this to be the last for now. Either way, leveraged buyers have less room than they had in the spring, and sellers with low debt and strong cash generation have relatively more.
Closer to home, the debate over gambling advertising in Bulgaria is back. The opposition has proposed a full outdoor advertising ban and strict limits on kit sponsorship after the World Cup broadcasts. The government rejected a similar push in July pending its own review of the Gambling Act. Buyers price the next vote.
If you are weighing a transaction over the next 12 months, we are happy to walk through where your business sits against these benchmarks.
(Sources: Focus Gaming News, 2 September 2026; ECB, 10 September 2026; SBC News, 7 September 2026)