Bally’s Intralot agrees £243m Evoke takeover
Table of contents
- Bally’s Intralot has agreed a recommended all-share acquisition of Evoke, valuing the William Hill owner at £243.1m.
- Evoke shareholders will receive 0.537 new Intralot shares per Evoke share, equivalent to 52p, with a partial cash alternative capped at £117m.
- The deal follows a strategic review launched in December 2025 after the UK government announced a near-doubling of Remote Gaming Duty.
Bally’s Intralot has struck a recommended all-share acquisition of Evoke, the Gibraltar-incorporated, London-listed parent of William Hill, 888 and Mr Green, in a deal valued at £243.1m announced on 5 June 2026.
Deal terms
Under the terms of the acquisition, Evoke shareholders will receive 0.537 new Intralot shares for each Evoke share held, equivalent to 52p per share based on Intralot’s closing price of EUR 1.12 on 4 June 2026. The offer represents a 138% premium to Evoke’s closing price of 21.9p on 9 December 2025, the last business day before Evoke announced its strategic review, and a 77% premium to its three-month volume-weighted average.
As an alternative, shareholders may elect to receive 52p in cash per share. The cash alternative is capped at £117.1m and will be scaled back proportionally if elections exceed that amount. The cash element will be funded by a bridge facility provided by Deutsche Bank and Jefferies.
Private lenders led by TPG Credit, alongside Oaktree and OHA, have committed the equivalent of £889m to refinance Evoke’s existing senior secured debt, including its EUR 450m floating rate notes and USD 575m term loan, both due in 2028.
The transaction is expected to complete in the final quarter of 2026 or the first quarter of 2027, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals across multiple jurisdictions.
Bally’s chairman Soo Kim said:
“We are excited about the opportunity to bring Intralot and Evoke together to create a leading, diversified European gaming champion with greater scale, resilience and operational capability.
“Underpinned by the combination of Evoke’s iconic brands of incredible heritage, such as William Hill and 888, with Intralot’s best-in-class technology and data capabilities, highly executable synergies and the ability to invest our substantial free cash flow in growth markets — we are confident that the Enlarged Group will not just be stronger than before, but stronger than ever.”
Evoke chairman Mark Summerfield said:
“Having considered a range of options I am delighted to announce the Acquisition by Intralot and believe the agreed terms represent the most attractive and deliverable outcome for evoke shareholders.”
Tax hike backdrop
Evoke launched its strategic review on 10 December 2025, the day after the UK government announced it would raise Remote Gaming Duty on online casino products from 21% to 40%, effective 1 April 2026. A second increase, raising duty on online sports betting from 15% to 25%, is due to take effect from 1 April 2027.
The formal offer document states the combined impact of both changes, once fully implemented, would increase Evoke’s annual duty costs by approximately £125m to £135m, representing 36% of its FY2025 EBITDA before mitigating actions.
Evoke’s board acknowledged that its “significant UK exposure” was expected to have a “material adverse impact” on the group’s profitability and cash generation.
Intralot cited the tax changes as creating “meaningful dislocation” across the UK competitive landscape and an opportunity for consolidation.
The deal is framed as addressing the strategic and financial constraints that have weighed on Evoke since its leveraged acquisition of William Hill’s non-US operations, with the enlarged group targeting around £180m in annual pre-tax cost and capital expenditure synergies within two years of completion.
Evoke’s decline
Evoke was formed when 888 Holdings completed the acquisition of William Hill’s non-US operations from Caesars Entertainment in 2022 for £2.2bn. The transaction burdened the company with substantial debt, which stood at 5.2 times EBITDA on a reported basis at the end of FY2025.
Intralot, listed on the Athens Stock Exchange, had been in discussions with Evoke since 20 April 2026, initially at 50p per share, before increasing its proposal to 52p following reciprocal due diligence.
The formal announcement on 5 June came ahead of a June 8 deadline under the terms agreed between the two parties. In April, Evoke confirmed it was closing around 200 William Hill betting shops as a cost-reduction measure.
Following completion, Evoke shareholders will hold approximately 11.5% of the enlarged group, assuming no elections for the cash alternative. The combined business will rank as the second-largest player in UK iGaming and fourth in UK online sports betting by gross gaming revenue, according to the deal announcement.
The acquisition faces regulatory approvals across more than a dozen jurisdictions, including gaming licence approvals in the UK, Italy, Germany, Gibraltar, Malta, Canada and several US states.
Completion timing will depend heavily on the pace of those processes, with the outcome likely to set a reference point for how UK-facing operators and their investors assess consolidation as a response to the sector’s evolving tax environment.
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About the author
Bianca Máthe
Bianca Mathe joined the iGaming industry in 2018 and has since built extensive experience across multiple verticals, working with international gaming organizations on editorial, marketing, and media strategy. She brings a strong understanding of the regulatory, commercial, and technological forces shaping the global iGaming sector.
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