A whopping 99.6% of Evoke shareholders have voted in favour of the takeover plan hatched by Bally’s Intralot.
The £243 million deal will see the Greek-American firm take over the running of Evoke’s retail and online businesses, which include William Hill, Mr Green and 888.
That shareholder approval moves the buyout another step closer in what has been an excellent week for Bally’s Intralot, who posted positive financial results for Q2 that included a 20.5% rise in quarterly revenue.
Special Resolution
The two companies opened talks on the deal back in April.
It was thought that Evoke’s shareholders were sweet on the takeover bid, which will amount to them receiving around 0.53 shares in Bally’s Intralot for every Evoke share that they own, with a capped cash option of £117.1 million.
At the firm’s Annual General Meeting, which took place yesterday, the unanimous vote confirmed that an all-share acquisition will go ahead – pending all of the usual due diligence processes.
“The company is pleased to announce that, at the Court Meeting and General Meeting of evoke held yesterday, the requisite majorities of shareholders approved the scheme and passed the Special Resolution required to implement the scheme,” a Bally’s statement reads.
“The evoke shareholder approval conditions relating to the acquisition have therefore been satisfied. In addition, a number of the conditions relating to antitrust and regulatory approvals have also now been satisfied.”
It’s now expected that the takeover will go ahead in either the final quarter of 2026 or Q1 next year.
It caps a fine week for Bally’s Intralot, whose Q2 reporting saw a 20.5 increase in revenue – from £485 million to £585 million – compared to the second quarter of 2026.
However, company CEO Robeson Reeves poured cold water on some of the optimism by revealing that ‘market consolidation in the UK has not moved quite as quickly as we originally expected.’
All the same, the outlook is positive – following the likes of Entain and the Super Group, who both posted revenue growth in the second quarter despite the roll-out of the government’s Remote Gaming Duty hike, up from 21% to 40%, in April.
Taxing Times
Ironically, the spring was less successful for Evoke, who saw their revenue flatline in the face of increased taxes – which they claim cost them £46 million in the period – and a reduced retail empire, with around 270 shops closed over the course of 2026 so far.
Evoke posted a post-tax loss of £70 million for the period, with their contribution in Remote Gaming Duty jumping from an estimated £187 million to £233.4 million.
They are running out of time to become financially viable too, as their outstanding debt – taken on when purchasing William Hill back in 2021 – matures in 2028, at which point they would need to find a cool £200 million to repay the first tranche of their credit obligations.
No wonder that the Evoke CEO, Per Widerstrom, was so keen to press ahead with the takeover.
“The board unanimously concluded that the transaction represents the most attractive and deliverable outcome for shareholders, while providing a stronger long-term capital structure for the business,” he has commented.
Market analysts Regulus Partners have revealed data which suggests that the industry as a whole is coping well with April’s tax hike… but that more challenging times could be on the horizon.
Online gaming grew by 12% across the six major gambling firms examined by Regulus, but they claim that around 7% of that spending was funded by favourable betting results, which include Spain’s win over Argentina in the World Cup final.
In the long term, the hardest hit firms could well be the smallest, claims Regulus, who often have to be aggressive in their bonuses and promotions to attract new players from older, more established operators.
They may have to reduce their incentives to swallow the cost of the tax grab, which will make them less appealing to potential new customers.
Meanwhile, the owner of Mecca Bingo and Grosvenor Casino has warned that the Gambling Tax increase will inevitably lead to entertainment venues closing permanently.
Speaking in an earnings call, Rank Group CEO Richard Harris revealed that ‘much-loved bingo halls and casinos will be forced to close, impacting customers in local communities.’
Despite reducing the number of operational Mecca Bingo halls, Rank Group posted a gaming revenue increase of 5% year on year and profits of £39 million in the first half of 2026.