Shareholders and creditors of Spanish and Latin American focused gambling operator Codere have reached an agreement on a €1.1 billion ($1.4 billion) debt restructuring that will allow bondholders to take control of the company.
said in a filing that the deal will see its creditors exchange existing debt for €675 million in newly issued bonds and a €253 million loan.
Bondholders will also swap €636 million worth of debt for a 97.78% equity stake in the company.
The Martinez Sampedro family, which founded Codere 30 years ago and currently owns 70% of the company, will buy back a stake of just under 20% once the restructuring has been completed.
In addition, José Antonio Martínez Sampedro will retain his position as chairman and chief executive of the company.
The restructuring deal was agreed with 80.2% of the firm’s euro-denominated bonds and 88.8% of dollar-denominated bonds.
Codere, which also confirmed it will delist shares from the Spanish stock exchange, encountered issues after it borrowed heavily from banks and bondholders in order to support expansion in Mexico and Argentina, before being hit by regulatory problems in both markets.
The debt issues have led to Codere losing more than 90% of its stock market value.
source : www.igamingbusiness.com
