SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Spanish business news sources report that Bolsa Madrid gambling group Codere SA has signed a joint-venture agreement with Hard Rock International, which will see both companies develop new gaming properties within Mexico.
The joint-venture will begin with Codere and Hard Rock establishing a new ‘tourist complex’ valued at $1 billion, which will see the US leisure and entertainment group develop its second ‘guitar-shaped hotel’ within Mexico City.
Partnership terms will see Codere ‘cede land’ to Hard Rock, who will finance the development of the Mexico City ’48- storey complex’ housing a gaming floor and sportsbook property serviced by Codere.
Reports detail that Codere will act as the minority partner in the development of the Hard Rock complex, maintaining 40% of equity.
The joint-venture agreement has been marked as a major coup for Codere and its ongoing corporate transformation programme, which seeks to expand the business within the markets of Mexico and Brazil.
Facing a number of business challenges, Codere governance appointed investment bank Credit Suisse to act as lead financial advisor last June, giving the group a two-fold mandate of reviewing all operating divisions and raising capital for new expansion projects.
Codere had previously announced that it was pursuing a strategic Mexican partnership with Hard Rock International, in which it had propositioned operating gambling halls within the leisure firm’s hotel properties of Cancun, Los Cabos, Cozumel and Lázaro Cárdenas.
