Bally’s Intralot has reported its final full-year FY25 results in a year which signalled a firm shift from B2B to B2C operations. SBC Business Journalist Patrick Killeen takes a look at what this means for the company amid confirmed talks for a takeover of evoke.
The combined business of Bally’s Intralot, which completed its merger in October 2025, reported a 34.8% increase in revenue to €518m (£451.2m) from €384.3m, while adjusted EBITDA grew by 40.4% to €183.5m.
B2C operations grew to 46.8% of full-year revenue – up from 24% the year before.
Bally’s Intralot reported pro-forma revenue and adjusted EBITDA figures to emphasise the scale of the combined entity. These came in at €1.09bn and €430.8m respectively.
“2025 has been a landmark year for Bally’s Intralot. The successful acquisition of Bally’s International Interactive has fundamentally transformed our group into one of the leading iGaming and lottery platforms globally,” said Bally’s Intralot Chief Executive Officer, Robeson Reeves.
“Our combined pro-forma revenues of approximately €1.1 billion and AEBITDA of €431 million at a nearly 40% margin speak to the exceptional quality and earnings power of this platform.
“Our underlying operations continued to deliver, with reported operating cash flow growing to €158.5m and AEBITDA margins expanding year-on-year supported by the inclusion of Bally’s International Interactive in the fourth quarter of the year.”
The Bally’s Intralot results come in the same week that it confirmed it was in talks for an acquisition of struggling LSE-listed evoke, which owns the William Hill, 888 and Mr Green brands.
While evoke owns some of UK gambling’s most iconic operators, it has been on a downward trajectory for the vast majority of the 2020s. Like others, it is also contending with a UK market facing a heavier tax burden and calls for yet another review of the country’s gambling regulations.
The multi-billion elephant in the board room
It was revealed yesterday that Bally’s Intralot is conserving an offer of 50p per evoke share, which would equate to a deal valued in the region of £225m. There is one major red flag hovering over this potential acquisition though – the almost-unsurmountable amount of debt that the combined business could be in.
For a start, Bally’s Intralot reported long-term debt of €1.678.4bn and short-term debt of €62.2m, coming to a total of around €1.74bn (£1.51bn). Its report also outlined adjusted net debt of €1.5bn as of the end of 2025.
We also know from recent figures and reports that evoke holds net debt of about £1.8bn, meaning that, if a deal was to be made, the combined entity would have to address the possibility of over £3.1bn in net debt to pay off.
Major restructuring and refinancing plans may have to be put in place – something which we have already seen from evoke through its decision to shut around 200 William Hill stores as part of its strategic review.
This is of course unless the combined entity was able to secure some kind of refinancing deal, or an agreement for some debt to be written off, as part of the final terms of an M&A agreement.
Another factor to consider is where the firm would make its primary listing. Bally’s Intralot is listed on the Athens Stock Exchange, controlling stakeholder Bally’s Corporation is listed on the NYSE, while evoke is listed on the LSE.
Regardless, Bally’s Intralot’s leadership team clearly sees an opportunity. As Reeves put it: “We have built a business with a margin profile that stands out in this industry. evoke has the scale.
“We see a compelling opportunity to bring our operating model to a significantly larger business, and the potential to transform its financial performance through massive synergies that we are uniquely positioned to deliver. This is an opportunity we are pursuing with conviction.”
A proven set of Bally’s Intralot and evoke assets
That scale Reeves talks about is apparent – William Hill and, in fairness 888, are names steeped in UK gambling history.
Hills shops have become a staple on UK high streets and the name has been associated with many major sporting events throughout the country during its 92-year history, such as the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), races at the Cheltenham Festival and the PDC World Championships.
Five key markets across Europe – the UK, Italy, Romania, Denmark and Spain – account for around 90% of evoke’s revenue, while it is also active across the Nordics, in parts of Africa via the 888Africa joint venture, and some other jurisdictions including Germany and Portugal.
It exited the US, which it was active in in four states through its the SI Sportsbook joint venture between 888 and Sports Illustrated, back in 2024.
Bally’s Intralot, meanwhile, also covers markets including Greece, Turkey, Oceania, the US and South America. If it was to acquire evoke, the combined business would become a major player across markets all over the globe.
However, this would again depend on cost-cutting strategies. Bally’s Intralot would be looking to leverage evoke’s ongoing strategic review and evoke has been no stranger to market withdrawals in the past, as evidenced by it removing William Hill from a number of jurisdictions in late 2025.
A further streamlining of operations would surely be taken into consideration given the vast amount of debt that the business would be carrying.
Despite these many considerations, company leadership remains confident as ever. In all fairness to Bally’s Corporation and by extension Bally’s Intralot, it is no stranger to taking on difficult markets or struggling brands, having provided a commercial lifeline to struggling Australian casino firm Star Entertainment.
It is also no stranger to the UK market, so the struggles mentioned above are hardly new to it. Bally’s Intralot has a number of UK-facing brands, namely the Bally Bet sportsbook alongside the iGaming assets of Bally Casino, Jackpotjoy, Virgin Games, MONOPOLY Casino and Rainbow Riches Casino.
“Our performance demonstrated the resilience and diversity of our global portfolio despite FX headwinds in the US,” Reeves concluded.
“We entered 2026 as a stronger, larger and more profitable business, well-capitalised, highly cashgenerative, and uniquely positioned across online gaming, lottery and sports betting. The best is ahead of us.”