The art of the merger: Is Bally's assembling the ultimate firefighting squad for Evoke?

Evoke has confirmed talks to be acquired by Bally's Intralot for £0.50 ($0.67) per share.

The operator has issued a statement in response to media speculation, following a report from the Times suggesting Bally's will undergo a "take-private rescue" of the William Hill parent company.

The Times' report did not offer too much in the way of new information, except for the fact that Evoke was understood to have "granted Bally's preferred bidder status," with a potential announcement as early as this week.

It suggested talks are "finely balanced," with Betfred believed to have bowed out of the running to buy Evoke. It also touched on a crucial detail that Evoke currently owes lenders around £1.8bn.

What Evoke's statement said

Confirming the speculation, Evoke says it is in discussions with Bally's Intralot over an "all-share combination with a partial cash alternative."

Evoke's shares are currently trading at around £0.37, so the £0.50 share price represents an acknowledgement that Evoke's potential is stronger than its current stock. However, Evoke's shares were worth more than twice their current value in July 2025.

The statement clarifies that there can be "no certainty" an offer will be made, with a deadline set for an offer announcement of 18 May 2026 (5pm UK time).

This all raises an intriguing question: is Bally's preparing the ultimate firefighting squad for its "rescue" of the beleaguered operator?

The personnel to change the game

Soo Kim, who joined us on the Huddle earlier this year, is all about turning companies around. Right now, Bally's is in the middle of attempting exactly that at The Star Entertainment in Australia, which it acquired for AU$300m ($214.4m at current exchange rates).

With him, though, would be Evoke CEO Per Widerström, an executive with a stellar reputation. He came to Evoke with previous success at Fortuna Entertainment Group and has consistently spoken of the need to do better during Evoke's financial reports.

Together, the two present a gaming industry equivalent of the Avengers assembling. Perhaps Kim may look to alternatives to Widerström if a deal goes through – but the CEO would still have done his job in guiding Evoke to that conclusion.

Kim and Bally's Intralot CEO Robeson Reeves will no doubt already be considering who to place at Evoke, given the significant changes in personnel we have already seen at The Star Entertainment. A firefighting squad is one metaphor, an NFL draft could be another – given just how much could additionally change at Evoke if this deal went through.

It has been a well-documented struggle for the brand that used to be called 888, which has made inroads in Europe but remains under financial strain since its £2.2bn takeover of William Hill in 2021. The announcement of its strategic review in December, combined with the closure of several William Hill shops following the increase of remote gaming duty to 40% in the UK market, came as no surprise.

Why a Bally's Intralot deal makes sense for Evoke

But, of course, nor does this potential merger. Bally's has retail synergies given its operation of land-based casinos across the world. Here, it may be far better suited to handle William Hill's retail estate than a parent company that was hitherto fully digital.

Consolidation in the UK market also makes perfect sense, given the increased cost burden to operators as of this April.

Soo Kim is a risk taker. He identifies deals that, in theory, tick all the right boxes and, previously, organisations that should have been managed better. Bally's starts from scratch with scenarios others would consider unorthodox. Even the Bally's Intralot merger was of this ilk.

Evoke and William Hill tick all of these boxes.

Why Evoke represents a risk for Bally's

Of course, the pursuit of these transformative deals does not come without risk. Bally's itself holds a high level of debt and, given all of the projects it is currently undertaking, there is a significiant chance it will need more funding from elsewhere – or even another mega merger down the line.

Some critics have questioned the capability of Bally's to fight on all these fronts sustainably. Indeed, that's exactly what the operator has to evaluate before 18 May. There have been recent industry examples of companies not being afraid to renege on M&A, like the Allwyn-Novibet case.

Bally's will, additionally, have to combat the often-inevitable element of tribalism in any merger. Famously, when Ladbrokes and Coral came together in 2016, the resultant organisation divided into "team red" and "team blue."

There have been numerous examples since, including... Evoke's takeover of William Hill, where staff have often felt there remains a divide between legacy teams from either brand.

For Evoke, a £225m valuation represents just a small percentage of the £2.2bn it acquired William Hill for in better times. For Bally's, there is high risk and high reward.

One thing is for sure, however, if a deal goes through, expect a scale of organisational and operational change we have yet to witness on these shores.