Spain's major operating company Codere saw a sharp rise in its stock market value at the end of July, following an agreement between major stakeholders.
The market price rose 14.5 per cent after the Spanish market regulator CNMV announced that an agreement had been reached between the Martinez Sampedro family and the two Franco brothers.
Seventy-one per cent of the shares are controlled by the Martinez Sampedro family through its FVC Masampe, acquired from R Franco in 2006, which at that time added 39.5 per cent. The consideration for this, totalling €391m, was not completed within the time limits. The Franco brothers, Joaquin and Jesus, negotiated the settlement of the outstanding funds with Martinez Sampedro.
The release from CNMV reported that the Franco brothers have agreed to each take a stake in Codere, representing 1.81 per cent of its capital, valued at €5.63bn.
Codere group operates nearly 55,000 machines, 16,000 of them in Spain, the rest in Argentina, Colombia, Spain, Italy, Mexico and Uruguay. It has 14 bingo halls in Argentina and others in Mexico. In Europe, in addition to its Spanish halls, it has 12 bingo halls in Italy and strong holdings in bingo in Colombia.
The group has 47 sports betting outlets in Mexico and others in Panama and Uruguay and its first shop in Spain has opened in Vittoria. Other shops are in Brazil. The group operates six casinos in Panama and Colombia and operates racetracks in Uruguay, Panama and Mexico.
