Shares in gambling firm Evoke (EVOK) gained 6% to 41.2p after the company confirmed press talk it had received a bid approach. The rally takes the advance in the shares to over 80% year-to-date.
US interest
Evoke, which owns the William Hill, 888 and Mr Green brands, said it was in discussions with US firm Bally’s Corp. The US firm has proposed an all-share combination, plus a second plan with a partial cash component, valuing Evoke at 50p/share.
Bally’s has until 18 May to announce a firm intention to make a bid or walk away. As usual, there is no certainty it will actually make an offer, or what form an offer might take.
Evoke shares fell sharply in late January after the firm failed to provide forward guidance for FY26. It said at the time it was reviewing its strategic options and was considering putting itself up for sale.
The fact Evoke shares went up 25% last week on heavy volume and no news suggested a deal was in the wind. An offer at 50p/share is still a healthy return for anyone who who was fortuitous enough to buy last week.
However, the shares are down 90% in the last five years so for most shareholders this means crystalising losses. In fairness, given Evoke owes its lenders around £1.8 billion, Bally couldn’t afford to be too generous.
Evoke claims the November Budget ‘dealt a significant blow’ to both the company and the wider industry. It also blamed tax increases for the strategic review, but we fancy the business was on a downward path anyway.
Read the press release here: https://www.evokeplc.com/investors/
