The debt-laden betting company behind William Hill has confirmed that an international lottery company is considering a takeover.
Evoke, which put itself up for sale in December, said it was evaluating a possible 50p-a-share [$0.67] offer from Athens-based Intralot, a lottery and casino company controlled by America’s Bally’s Corporation.
The offer is an almost 30 per cent premium to its closing share price on Friday, valuing Evoke at £225 million [$304 million]. Evoke’s shares closed up 1½p, or 4.1 per cent, at 40½p on Monday.
The offer is expected to be an “all-share” merger with a partial cash alternative. Under takeover rules, Bally’s Intralot has until May 18 to make a firm bid or walk away.
