Bally’s Intralot has “no intention” of selling off any of evoke’s assets following its agreed all-share acquisition, according to CEO Robeson Reeves.
The deal, confirmed on 5 June 2026, values evoke’s assets at £243.1m and is expected to close in Q4 2026 or early 2027, pending gaming and anti-trust approvals.
Evoke is the parent company of both William Hill and 888, making it one of the more significant targets in recent European gambling consolidation activity.
Speaking across several calls following the announcement, Reeves firmly dismissed speculation that evoke could be broken up once the acquisition is finalised.
He stressed that Bally’s Intralot had approached the deal with the “whole group” in mind, viewing the combined business as a vehicle for meaningful international expansion.
“We wanted the whole group,” Reeves said. “We have no intention to sell any assets, as I’ve said a few times. I find that international assets are almost the most attractive, because it creates a diversification for our combined group, and really does give us pan-European presence.”
Reeves did leave a small opening, acknowledging that a future asset disposal could be considered if it “makes sense”, but he quickly reiterated there was no active plan to offload anything.
“If things arrive that make sense, we’ll always consider, but we’ve absolutely no intention,” he said. “We like the business that evoke has. We believe together we can be stronger and truly grow this business and have significant scale.”
Evoke’s Italian operation was singled out by Reeves as one of the company’s “prize assets”, suggesting it would be among the last units to be considered for any future sale.
Reeves was also careful to frame the deal as far more than simply an acquisition of William Hill and its established UK retail and online presence.
Although William Hill’s UK footprint was clearly attractive, Reeves emphasised that international diversification was a central motivation behind pursuing the transaction.
“I know people think I’m buying the UK,” he said. “We’re inheriting international businesses across Italy, Spain, Romania, Denmark and many other territories. This is saving a bunch of time and is exactly aligned with my expansion plan.”
Bally’s Intralot already holds a UK presence following the 2021 acquisition of Gamesys and its various brands, but the evoke deal significantly extends that footprint across multiple European markets.
The evoke announcement came just months after Bally’s Corporation and Intralot completed their own €2.7bn merger in October 2025, signalling that management remains committed to using M&A as a growth tool.
Prior major transactions also include the 2021 Gamesys deal and Bally’s acquisition of The Queen Casino and Entertainment in the US last February.
When questioned about whether further M&A could follow, Reeves did not rule it out but indicated any future deals would likely be smaller in scale than the recent headline transactions.
“We’re always looking at sensible, smart acquisitions,” he said. “If I could get extra revenue plus expertise that would enhance our capabilities, I will always look at those opportunities. I’d definitely be looking at smaller operators, potentially with deferred payment structures. That could be an attractive mechanism to create scale.”
Reeves was clear that discipline and careful deal structuring would remain a priority as the enlarged group works to grow its presence in key markets around the world.
“We are very careful. We’ve designed the construct of this transaction to be fairly low risk for Bally’s Intralot and attractive to evoke as well. We want to win-win,” he said. “Acquiring evoke essentially makes us a business that I always wanted us to become.”
