Codere Online merger set to close this week, sees investor Eliot Tubis and its EJT Holdings increase stake

Investor and entrepreneur Eliot Tubis and his firm EJT Holdings are expanding their stake to over 4% in the outstanding public warrants of special purpose acquisition company DD3 Acquisition Corp II, as its merger with Codere Online looks to close this week.

"We continue to be extremely bullish on both the gaming and sport betting opportunities in Latin America, as well as the Codere Online team headed by Moshe Edree,” said Tubis upon the increased stake announcement. “In addition, having Baron Funds committed to the PIPE gives us great confidence in the capital structure of the business post-merger."

EJT Holdings is the family office of Tubis, which invests in public and private companies throughout the USA with a focus on online gaming, real estate and growing restaurant brands through capital expansion plans and off-premise order management.

Codere Online is set to become the first LatAm online gaming operator to go public, and will do so through a merger with a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company in a $350 million deal. Upon completion, the company will be Nasdaq-listed.

The operator expects an approximately $145 million cash position to fund marketing expenditures, technology platform improvements and expansion into new high-growth Latin American markets. The merger was first announced in June of 2021.

Codere Online will continue to be led by the company’s Managing Director Moshe Edree and its management team. Martin Werner, Founding Partner of DD3 Capital Partners, is expected to join the Codere Online Board of Directors.

In terms of investment opportunities following the merger, the company highlighted a “strong” market opportunity supported by favorable demographic trends in Latin America, as “very low existing market penetration” with increasing adoption of smartphones, e-commerce and internet connectivity position the region for “tremendous near, medium and long term growth.”

Other investment highlights mentioned by the company earlier this year include its omnichannel strategy. Codere Online’s indirect parent company, Codere Group, has a leading retail footprint encompassing approximately 10,800 venues throughout Latin America, Spain and Italy, as well as a registered retail database of over 3 million registered players.

First launched in 2014, Codere Online currently operates in its core markets of Spain, Italy, Mexico, Colombia and Panama, and now has also started operating in the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. 

Earlier this month, the Spain-based business shared its Q3 financial results, with operating revenue for the first nine months of the year increasing more than 8% to $572.8 million. Moreover, revenue for the quarter increased by 63% to $266.67 million when compared to the same period in 2020.