Private Equity Giant Could Power Bally’s Intralot Evoke Takeover Bid

An arm of a private equity giant is reportedly ready to step in and propel Bally’s Intralot’s proposed takeover bid of Evoke. Gaming operator Bally’s Intralot has been heavily linked in recent weeks to acquire William Hill’s parent company, and according to Sky News, private investment firm TPG is locked in talks to finance a potential takeover.

It is thought tapping into TPG’s large financial resources would strongly increase the chances of Bally’s Intralot pulling off a successful takeover of Evoke. Rumours have abounded for months over an acquisition of Evoke, and it seems TPG is ready to put its money where its mouth is.

Refinancing plan for Evoke revealed

There has been simmering speculation over Bally’s Intralot and their 50p a share offer for Evoke, valuing the company at £225 million. TPG’s involvement, the report suggests, would largely revolve around refinancing Evoke’s significant borrowings. It has been claimed that TPG could stump up as much as £800m as part of Bally’s Intralot takeover bid.

However, within the same report, there have been suggestions that the final number could be much lower than the £800m quoted above. Evoke’s annual report, which was published at the end of April, indicated the company has been saddled with a big debt pile, amounting to £1.86 billion.

Evoke set out its £200m revolving credit facility in the annual report, which matures in January 2028. There are two tranches of debt, maturing in July 2028, and totalling £769m. Further fixed notes have been earmarked for 2030 and 2031, totalling £400m and £505m respectively.

Grappling with tax reforms

Since the November budget, which was announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, the UK’s betting landscape has significantly shifted. The general betting duty placed on online sports betting will jump from 15% to 25% in April next year, while the hike in remote gaming duty (RGD) imposed on digital casino bets is already in effect.

This has placed serious strain on operators, but Evoke finds itself in the same boat as many of its competitors, including Entain, in terms of breaking up its retail estate. Currently, William Hill owns around 1,300 betting shops across the UK, and Evoke’s CEO, Per Widerstrom, previously underlined this fear after confirming lower revenues than expected in 2025.

Earlier this year, Widerstrom said:

“We continue to believe these tax increases will negatively impact the industry’s economic contribution, customer protection, and will ultimately serve to support further growth in the illegal black market.

“We have moved quickly and decisively to execute on our mitigation plans, including the closure of retail estates that are no longer sustainable as well as broader cost savings, and we will update shareholders on our progress and updated strategic plan in due course.”

Small spike in share price

Evoke’s share price dipped at the end of last week to 37.9p, indicating the market might be sceptical about the validity of Bally’s Intralot and their potential 50p-a-share takeover. But this morning, there was a small spike in Evoke’s share price, rising to 38.65p.

As things stand, Bally’s Intralot have until 5pm on Monday, June 8, to decide on whether to submit a formal offer. This has been framed as a put up or shut up deadline; however, the backing of TPG would add extra weight to Bally’s Intralot takeover mission. Betting.co.uk reached out to Evoke for further comment, but they declined to discuss the matter.