The news was first reported this morning in the Earnings + More newsletter and later confirmed in a regulatory release issued by evoke.
In the note, evoke said it has decided to undertake a review of the company’s strategic options including the consideration of a range of potential alternatives to maximise shareholder value.
This could include, it added, a potential sale of the group or some of its assets and business units, confirming industry speculation over recent weeks the company might become an M&A target.
Sky News previously reported evoke was mulling a sale of its Italian business unit, which sources told NEXT.io could be worth somewhere between £350m and £450m.
It follows the announcement in the UK budget last month that online casino and betting taxes were going to increase to 40% and 25% respectively, the former in particular being higher than many observers had predicted.
Evoke is considered to be uniquely vulnerable to these changes due to the large debt pile it took on to fund the William Hill acquisition, as well as its iGaming-heavy mix and reliance on the UK.
Evoke leverage and UK exposure ‘recipe for disaster’
David Brohan, Goodbody head of gaming research, told NEXT.io: “It shows that – for these companies – you have to have scale and you have to have diversification, because you’re always going to have tax and regulatory challenges in this industry. And if two thirds of your business is exposed to one market and you’re highly leveraged, it’s a bit of a recipe for disaster.”
Brohan also highlighted that evoke’s post-tax hike statement included much higher targeted mitigation numbers than was proposed by its competitors Flutter or Entain, which itself followed on from a years-long programme within the business looking for efficiencies.
“There’s a tipping point where you have to invest in the business in order to grow it. And they’re getting to the point when it’s hard to find a winning strategy.”
The company’s major debt pile has been highlighted as a major issue, with approximately half of the business’ FY27 EBITDA now likely be taken up by interest costs alone.
The company has at times faced a rocky compliance history, in particular relating to previous operations in the Middle East, which could complicate any potential deal.
However, sources told NEXT.io evoke is in a much better spot on this front than it was historically, especially with the rejigged focus on its core, regulated markets.
The markets have reacted positively to the announcement, with evoke’s share price rising over 10% to 24.75 GBX prior to a slight fall to 23.41 GBX at the time of publication.
Dingnews.com 11/12/2025