William Hill owner agrees £243m takeover by Greek casino and lottery firm

The owner of William Hill and the 888 online casino brand has agreed a £243m takeover by the Greek casino and lottery operator Bally’s Intralot. Evoke has been locked in talks with the Athens-listed Bally’s Intralot, which has extensive international operations including in the US, for the past two months . The deal comes four years after the heavily indebted Evoke, previously known as 888 Holdings, paid £2.2bn to buy William Hill’s network of 1,400 high street bookmakers. Since then, Evoke’s shares have fallen by 90%. The companies said the government’s announcement in November of a significant increase in remote gaming duty, from 21% to 40%, triggered a “material shift in the UK operating environment” that will “create meaningful dislocation across the competitive landscape”. That rise came into effect in April, while a duty on online sports bets will increase from 15% to 25%, with the exception of horse racing, from April 2027. Shares in London-listed Evoke soared by more than 12.5% in early trading on Friday as investors welcomed the takeover deal. “Intralot continues to believe that the UK is a highly attractive geography and the current market dislocation presents a significant opportunity for consolidation,” the company said. Evoke, which is headquartered in Gibraltar, has net debt of about £1.8bn and a market value of just over £180m. …