Mexico’s Grupo Televisa back for PlayCity sell-off

Mexico’s Grupo Televisa conglomerate has restarted its efforts to sell its International Bets subsidiary, which includes PlayCity Casino and PlayCity Apuestas businesses. The group had earlier tried unsuccessfully to sell the ventures.

The PlayCity has 17 terrestrial gaming venues providing 7200 electronic gaming machines and online sports betting services powered by European tech provider Kambi.

Blackstone Group, a private equity giant that bought Spanish gaming operator Cirsa Gaming Corp, is the front runner for acquiring PlayCity. Spanish gaming giant Codere, which already operated in Mexico through its Codere.mx site, is also tipped to be in the race.

Televisa does not break out PlayCity’s exact contribution to the conglomerate’s revenue, instead of bundling the gaming division’s performance into its catch-all “other” category. This category contributed a mere 8% of Televisa’s Q2 revenue and just 2% of its operating income. The PlayCity venues reportedly welcomed 4m visitors in 2017, a 42% year-on-year improvement.

Televisa is reportedly looking to raise $300m from the sale, which is part of a plan to ditch its non-core operations. The company reportedly expects to conclude a transaction within 90 days, although those previous reports in May claimed a deal would be done by July or August, so feel free to take this new timeline with a grain of salt (tequila and lemon slice optional).

PlayCity is believed to hold licenses that allow the company to open up to 50 gaming venues, although that capacity may not survive a transfer of ownership, particularly given the market’s regulatory uncertainty and widespread complaints regarding questionable licensing tenders.

Source: calvinayre.com