Codere clarifies intention to liquidate holding company
Spanish operator reassures investors that liquidation process is part of previously communicated restructuring after stock plummets 37% in a week
Codere has confirmed that it will liquidate its current holding company and suspend the listing of its shares as part of its financial restructuring process.
The operator moved to clarify its intentions by releasing a statement to the Madrid stock exchange following speculation over the future of the company in the Spanish press this week.
The current holding company, Codere SA, is set to be dissolved following a general shareholders’ meeting where the dissolution will be potentially approved.
Codere SA manages Codere’s retail gaming environments and products across Spain, Italy and Latam.
Following the restructuring and dissolution process, Codere will be controlled by a new holding company, Codere Newco, through which current bondholders of the group will hold 95% of its capital.
The remaining 5% will correspond to current shareholders of the group.
The liquidation of Codere SA will allow current shareholders to own shares in the capital of the newly created business or earn compensation from the sale of a proportional part of its shares.
Codere said that regardless of the liquidation of Codere SA, group operations would continue on a “normal course” throughout all existing markets.
Codere Online, for example, has been spun out of the wider Codere business and is expected to go public in the US in Q4 2021 via a combination with SPAC DD3 Acquisition Corp II, after which time its shares will trade on Nasdaq under the CDRO ticker symbol.
A financial restructuring agreement was secured in April 2021, which saw creditors inject €225m into the business to provide support as Covid-19 crippled the Spanish operator’s operations.
The restructuring is set to be implemented by 15 November.
Codere’s share price plummeted by 36.8% over the last week, down from €0.57 to €0.36, although it has rebounded by 8% this morning, suggesting some of the sell-off was due to a misunderstanding over which parts of the Codere business were set to be liquidated.
Back in early 2018, Cordere’s stock was above €10.