Mexican media and entertainment group Televisa has confirmed that it plans to exit the gaming sector via the sale of its entire gambling portfolio which operates under the Play City Casino and Play City Apuestas brands.
Televisa currently operates a total of 17 Play City casino/betting establishments across Mexico, having been one of the few companies to have been granted a land-based gambling licence by the Vicente Fox government in 2005.
According to Mexican news source Reforma, Televisa’s new leadership team of Alfonso de Angoitia (CEO) and Bernardo Gómez Martínez (Group President) are seeking a ‘quick sale’ of Play City assets.
Angoitia and Gómez Martínez are reported to have implemented a sale of non-core Televisa subsidiaries, seeking to raise capital for the firm’s media enterprise.
In its news report, Reforma details that Televisa targets a sale of approximately US $300m for Play City assets, seeking to close its gambling enterprise within 90 days of agreeing a transaction.
Spanish industry news source InfoPlay, has reported that Bolsa-Madrid gambling group Codere and US multi-national private equity firm Blackstone are eyeing the opportunity.
Codere governance seeks to expand the market leading position of its Mexican gambling subsidiary Grupo Caliente. Blackstone, meanwhile, has significantly increased its investment in Spanish-language gambling assets, and seeks to support the growth of its newly acquired CIRSA enterprise within LatAm markets.
This July, Spanish news sources reported that Blackstone executives were eyeing a potential but tricky buy-out of Codere, seeking to create the world’s largest Spanish-language gambling enterprise.
