BREAKING NEWS: UK gambling giant Evoke, the shattered, deracinated shell of once mighty 888 Holdings has put itself up for sale.
Last month’s Autumn Budget, which saw iGaming taxes hiked from 15 percent to 25 percent, has been called the catalyst for the news that shook the world of gambling this morning, but in truth the cause can be dated to the precipitous decision by 888 executives, led by then-CEO Itai Pazner, to pay way over the top to buy back the retail remnants of storied William Hill once Caesars Entertainment had gutted the blue riband betting house of all its cutting-edge U.S. digital assets.
888 paid a whopping £1.9 billion (US$2.54 billion) to Vegas-based Caesars in September 2021 for the 1,300 UK William Hill betting shops. Way over the top, most analysts agree. And this in the age of iGaming, when retail means casino resort or integrated resort – and not quaint High Street Bookies.
The deal landed 888 Holdings in deep debt and led to the “abrupt” departure–some would call it the defenestration–of CEO Pazner at the start of 2023.
It has also led to the crisis now facing Evoke, as the FTSE250 company was renamed in a vain attempt to put clear water between renewal and executive incompetence.
But even the appointment of safe-pair-of-hands Per Widerström as CEO in July 2023 was not enough to steady the Evoke ship of state.
Strategic Review
Today’s announcement has given the company a modicum of financial respite, with Evoke shares rising by as much as 12.8 percent on the London Stock Exchange.
But overall since August and the first whisperings of impending gambling tax hikes the company’s stock value has halved.
Today Evoke announced it was launching “a strategic review” which could include “a potential sale of the group or some of its assets and business units” in its core markets of the UK, Italy, Spain, Romania, and Denmark.
Morgan Stanley and Rothschild & Co have been appointed as joint financial advisers.
Evoke was among the first of the UK’s Big Beast betting companies to react with barely controlled fury to Chancellor Reeves’ tax hikes.
And the owner of top brands Mr Green, 888casino, 888sports, 888poker, as well as William Hill, issued a profit warning that higher taxes could add another £135 million (US$179.95m) to operating costs from 2027.
Reeves’ tax raid would shatter employment and was “counter-productive and highly damaging”, charged Widerström.
Time was when Evoke/888 Holdings was worth around £1.7 billion (US$2.27bn).
Today it’s valued at just £94.3 million (US$125.69m).
It’s a sad day indeed for the parent of William Hill, once the jewel in the crown of British betting.
When contacted by iGamingFuture for comment, the company responded: “We have nothing, absolutely nothing, to add.”
Watch this space!
