Codere SA expects to complete its bond restructuring on 5 November, having initially announced the development in April, granting full control of the company to its bondholders.

The decision was made in a bid to avoid bankruptcy, following months of financial instability for the betting and gaming operator, exacerbated by COVID-19 headwinds such as the closure of the group’s Italian, Mexican, Argentine, Uruguayan and Panamanian operations.  

Publishing its H1 trading results, the group revealed that its income fell by €51.3 million to €266.3 million – a 16.2% drop on the same time period in 2020 – with the most serious losses occurring in Italy and Argentina at €57.7 million and €23.4 million. 

In order to offset these losses, the firm announced an agreement with its stakeholders towards the end of April which would see the Bolsa Madrid gambling group supported by cash injection of €225 million.

As a consequence of this, the shareholders agreed with Codere management that the company should be liquidated and its assets transferred to a new corporate bodey, in order to ensure the viability of the company.

In a statement released yesterday, the company explained that its Board of Directors would call a general meeting of shareholders to lead to the dissolution of the company, and that the shareholders will receive cash in exchange for their shares.

Codere detailed: “With the implementation of this restructuring, which is expected to be concluded at the beginning of the fourth quarter of the year, Codere hopes to ensure the future of the company, thanks to the trust of its bondholders in the group’s prospects, in its management team and in the most of ten thousand employees that make up the organisation.”

Despite its financial troubles, the board of Cdere filed an F-4 ‘preliminary registration statement’ with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in August, pursuing a listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

The planned registration forms part of Codere plans to divest its Codere Online unit by merging with DD3 Acquisition Corp – a SPAC led by former Goldman Sachs Latin America Executive Martin Werner.