Bally’s Intralot has confirmed that it is involved in talks with evoke, one of the world’s largest listed gambling firms and owner of the 888 group and William Hill.
In a statement this morning, evoke confirmed rumours that it had been engaged in talks with Greek-American business Bally’s Intralot, with an 18 May deadline for a bid.
If Bally’s Intralot does indeed make a bid for evoke in May, it would come 10 months after the firm’s creation via the effective merger of US conglomerate Bally’s and Greek lottery technology firm Intralot.
It would also mark a significant detour from the firm’s stated goals upon its creation in mid-2025. At the time, Bally’s Intralot leadership stated that the firm would be targeting opportunities in the US lottery space and B2G/B2C activities in this area.
Acquiring the group behind William Hill, one of the largest retail sportsbooks in the UK as well as a large online brand, in addition to the Mr Green online casino and the 888 group of online betting, casino and poker brands, marks a big departure from this initial intention.
“We have built a business with a margin profile that stands out in this industry. evoke has the scale,” said Robeson Reeves, Chief Executive Officer of Bally’s Intralot.
“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.”
New opportunities, new challenges
Bally’s Intralot came into being via the aforementioned merger between Bally’s and Intralot in May last year. The deal saw Intralot acquire Bally’s international B2B arm, Bally’s Interactive, while the US firm secured a controlling stake in the new entity.
Reeves, the CEO of Bally’s Corporation, would later take on the CEO role at the new combined entity. The new business quickly got to work cementing its client network, renewing long-standing lottery deals while continuing to secure new deals, such as a recently penned one with the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC).
Expanding into B2C sports betting and casino gaming via a takeover of evoke would significantly widen Bally’s Intralot’s scope, way behind the above mentioned stated goals of expanding in North American lotteries.
There is somewhat of an already-established Bally’s sportsbook presence, with the Bally Bet brand, which was created in 2021, being an active player in the UK market. The firm is much more active in UK iGaming though, via Jackpotjoy, Virgin Games, MONOPOLY Casino, Rainbow Riches Casino, and Bally Casino.
The evoke deal could expose the firm to a lot of debt too, however. The M&A between Bally’s and Intralot last year was supported by multi-million dollar loans, while evoke is also carrying substantial debt of its own – £1.8bn in its H1 2025 reports, to be exact.
A takeover will also significantly expand Bally’s Intralot’s activity in the UK, where it is already active via the aforementioned Bally Bet brand, a casino property in Newcastle, and B2B operations.
William HIll remains one of the biggest brands on the British high street, but evoke has been winding down some operations in lieu of the hefty new tax regime British online casino revenue is now subject to.
William Hill and 888 are proven and reputable brands, that is undeniable. But they are also brands that come with a lot of risks in 2026, with tax raises and regulatory uncertainty in the UK alone a cause of concern.
Nonetheless, Bally’s Intralot clearly sees a big opportunity to expand here. Talks between the two revolve around a potential offer of 50 pence per evoke share, which would bring purchase value to about £225m based on the 450 million outstanding evoke shares as of 17 April.
“Bally’s Intralot believes that a combination with evoke would have the potential to deliver substantial strategic and operational synergies, including enhanced scale, an expanded geographic footprint and opportunities for cost efficiencies,” the firm’s statement read.
LSE-listed evoke, which has faced its fair share of challenges over the past couple of years, has seen a rebound in its share price since the announcement this morning, with shares currently up over 4% to 40 pence at the time of writing.
Many eyes will be on that, as well as any potential news of fresh bids from other parties, before Bally’s Intralot’s deadline of 18 May.
In any case, the 50p per share bid marks a stark drop off from the rejected one tabled by Playtech at 156p per share (around £700m in total) for the business – then named 888 Holdings PLC – back in July 2023.