MADRID, March 25 (Reuters) - Spanish gambling group

Codere has hired Jefferies and Macquarie Capital to

advise on the company's imminent sale that could value it at

more than 2 billion euros ($2.32 billion), newspaper Expansion

reported on Wednesday, citing several market sources familiar

with the deal.

According to the report, the process is still at an early

stage, with indicative bids due by mid-May, binding offers

expected around early July and a deal targeted before the August

summer break.

Neither Codere nor the two banks immediately replied to

Reuters' requests for comment.

Codere, Spain's second-largest gambling and leisure group

after Cirsa, is owned by about 84 investment funds

since a 2024 debt-for-equity deal that handed control away from

the founding Martinez Sampedro family.

Davidson Kempner is the largest shareholder with a 13.3%

stake, ahead of Palmerston Capital, Deltroit, System 2 Capital

and Invesco.

The group, founded in 1980, operates in regulated markets in

Spain, Italy, Argentina, Mexico, Panama, Colombia and Uruguay,

across both land-based and online gambling.

Potential bidders could include both industrial and

financial investors, although some private equity firms face

ESG-related restrictions on investing in gambling, which may

narrow the pool, Expansion said in its report.

The report said that the deal would include Codere Online,

the group's Nasdaq-listed digital unit.

($1 = 0.8624 euros)