Estimates for the value of the stake in Loterias y Apuestas del Estado range from about €4.5bn to €9bn. However, the government appears to expect roughly €5bn from the sale.

The operator enjoyed net profit of just under €3bn in 2009, up 3.5 percent from the previous year, on sales of €9.8bn. Nearly all of that profit went to treasury coffers, and it is not clear how the government expects raising less than twice that sum from part-privatisation to compensate for the presumed loss of some future profit to the new private-sector shareholder.

Profit for 2010 is expected to be about ten percent lower at €2.6bn.

Loterias y Apuestas del Estado has a number of brands including Lotería Nacional, La Primitiva, Euromillones, Bonoloto, El Gordo, La Quiniela, El Quinigol, Lototurf, and Quíntuple Plus.

The privatisation will be introduced as part of new gaming legislation due to be drafted by the end of the year, which is also expected to regulate online gaming. And that could increase the operator’s value.

“If Spain were to approve online gambling, [the Loterias y Apuestas del Estado brand] could be quite valuable, because they could cross-sell customers,” Karl Burns, an analyst at the UK’s Shore Capital, was quoted as saying

Among the firms believed to be considering bidding are Spain’s Cirsa, Codere and Recreativos Franco, as well as Italy’s Lottomatica.

Austrian online operator Bwin has denied a report in the Spanish newspaper El Mundo that it was interested, saying its ambitions remain firmly Internet-oriented – it is currently in the process of a merger with British counterpart Partygaming. It does, however, have a strong Iberian presence with sponsorship of Real Madrid and the Portuguese League Cup, which may have prompted speculation on its involvement.

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