evoke and Bally’s Intralot could be on the cusp of significantly changing the landscape of the UK gambling market.
As speculation intensified over the weekend, Bally’s Intralot has confirmed that it is in discussions with evoke regarding a possible offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of the company at 50p per share, totalling approximately £225m.
The company said in a statement that a combination with the William Hill, 888 and Mr Green operator has the potential to ‘deliver substantial strategic and operational synergies, including enhanced scale, an expanded geographic footprint and opportunities for cost efficiencies’.
Bally’s Intralot has set a deadline of no later than 5pm UK time on 18 May 2026, to confirm whether the operator will make an offer for evoke or announce that it does not intend to pursue the deal that could change the face of UK gambling. However, there is scope to extend this deadline with consent.
“We see a compelling opportunity to bring our operating model to a significantly larger business.”
Robeson Reeves, Chief Executive Officer at Bally’s Intralot
Robeson Reeves, Chief Executive Officer at Bally’s Intralot, stated: “We have built a business with a margin profile that stands out in this industry. evoke has the scale.
“We see a compelling opportunity to bring our operating model to a significantly larger business, and the potential to transform its financial performance through massive synergies that we are uniquely positioned to deliver. This is an opportunity we are pursuing with conviction.”
However, Bally’s Intralot noted that there’s ‘no certainty that an offer will be made or as to the terms on which any offer might be made or that any such synergies would be realised’.
Any offer is subject to customary conditions and approvals and it reserves the right to vary the offer’s terms, including price, form and mix of consideration and transaction structure.
evoke under strategic review
evoke has been embattled for some time, currently carrying around £1.8bn of debt. In December last year, the operator announced that it would be undergoing a strategic review of its operations, which included ‘a potential sale of the Group, or some of the Company’s assets and/or business units’.
The debt load of evoke threatens to pose an obstacle to this deal, with Bally’s Intralot also having debt of around £4.5bn. However, with it being framed as a potential rescue deal for the UK giant, which would mean Bally’s does not need to absorb full evoke debt, the road to a transaction becomes clearer.
Bally’s Intralot has told shareholders, debt holders and other stakeholders that its financing will be aligned with its stated financial policy goals within its existing perimeter if the proposal results in a consummated transaction.
Meanwhile, evoke has advised its shareholders not to take any action in relation to the proposal. The company is set to publish its financial results for the year ended 31 December 2025 (FY25) on 29 April.
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