Evoke Reports 7% Revenue Fall As Takeover Nears And Tax Costs Rise

Evoke reported third-quarter revenue of $542.67 million, down 7% year on year, as its proposed takeover by Bally’s Intralot approaches completion. The owner of William Hill, 888 and Mr Green also urged the UK government to avoid further gambling tax increases.

Good To Know

• Evoke closed around 270 betting shops over the past year.
• Revenue fell 2% after adjustments for shop closures and currency movements.
• The company expects the takeover to close in late 2026 or early 2027.

Takeover Advances As Evoke Cuts Costs

Shareholders of both companies have approved the acquisition, and Evoke has received most regulatory clearances. The deal remains on schedule despite a difficult trading period.

Bally’s Intralot agreed the all-share takeover in June. Evoke shareholders will receive 0.537 new shares for each share they own. At announcement, the terms valued Evoke at approximately $324.93 million, or $0.69 per share.

Debt helps explain the transaction. Evoke ended 2025 with about $2.49 billion in borrowings after buying the non-US William Hill business from Caesars Entertainment for approximately $2.67 billion in 2022. Bally’s Intralot arranged around $1.19 billion in financing from TPG Credit, Oaktree and OHA for the acquisition and debt refinancing.

“We remain focused on disciplined execution and operational efficiency as we progress towards completion of the acquisition,” Chief Executive Per Widerström said.

For the quarter ended September 30, bettor-friendly football results reduced revenue growth by one to two percentage points. Evoke said underlying revenue would otherwise have remained broadly unchanged.

The headline 7% decline therefore tells only part of the story. A smaller shop estate and currency movements account for much of the difference between reported revenue and the adjusted 2% fall.

Meanwhile, Evoke expects tax changes announced in November 2025 to add $167.08 million to $180.44 million to its annual duty bill once fully implemented. Supplier savings, reduced marketing, shop closures and other cost cuts should offset roughly half.

Remote gaming duty rose from 21% to 40% on April 1, 2026. A separate 25% remote betting rate starts on April 1, 2027, while remote bets on UK horse racing retain the 15% rate. The measures cover different gambling products, rather than imposing one rate across the industry.

“The closure of 270 shops over the past year shows the real impact on jobs and livelihoods from higher industry taxation, and we urge the UK government to carefully consider any further increases ahead of its forthcoming autumn budget,” Widerström said.

Evoke initially warned that 120 to 200 William Hill shops could close, threatening up to 1,500 jobs. In March, it confirmed around 200 closures beginning in May. The total later reached 270, although the company has not disclosed a final employment figure.

Last week, leaders of six major British gambling companies reported more than 600 shop closures and 10,250 jobs lost or facing redundancy since the 2025 budget. They asked the chancellor to leave machine games duty unchanged on October 28 and pause the planned remote betting increase.

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