Evoke May Sell William Hill After UK Budget Tax Surge

The UK Autumn Budget set a steep tax increase on gambling operators in the UK, and while the higher duties will only come into effect from the 2026-27 tax year onwards, there is fallout all across the board. Even the seemingly largest operators in the UK are worried about the financial consequences. Evoke, the company that owns 888, William Hill, Mr Green and several others, is now considering either selling or breaking up the iconic UK bookmaker William Hill.

Evoke only acquired the business just under 4 years ago, purchasing the bookmaker from Caesars Entertainment for £1.95 billion. At the time, in the summer of 2022, William Hill employed around 8,000 people in the UK, running 1,400 high street betting shops, alongside its casino games, online bingo, and online poker. The bookie, founded in 1934, is now in danger of either being sold again, or being dismantled entirely.

What’s Happening to William Hill

The Autumn Budget saw one of the biggest gambling tax hikes in history, with remote gaming duty soaring from 12% to 40% and betting duty shooting up from 15% to 25%. The Treasury expects to raise £1,1 billion annually by 2030, but companies, like Evoke, reckon they will be hit with over £125 million in tax. Evoke, originally 888 Holdings, took on a massive debt when it acquired William Hill from Caesars in 2022. Though they managed to save money, slashing the original price from £2.2 to £1.95 billion, as of June this year, Evoke’s debt stood at £1.82 billion.

Since the Autumn Budget, Evoke shares have dropped by over 36%, and in the weeks preceding the anticipated tax hike, Evoke cut back on retail costs. Alongside Paddy Power, William Hill shut down betting shops across the UK, diminishing its network of 1,400+ high street retail betting shops. Now it has just over 1,300, but that may not be the end of it.

The gaming tax reforms are set to go into effect from April 2026, and the new sports betting tax will start from 2027. Companies like Evoke, therefore, have to act quickly to restructure their operations to ensure they are ready for the heightened gambling tax. Flutter, an American rival to Evoke with brands like Paddy Power and FanDuel, announced it will relocate Sky Bet to Malta to cut down on overheads, staff and running costs. Unfortunately, William Hill is in a more tricky position, with Evoke now considering selling the company or even breaking it up.

History of Acquisitions and Expansions

William Hill is among the oldest bookmakers in the world. It was founded in 1934 and has been sold numerous times throughout its history. The first acquisition came in 1971, when it was bought by Sears Holdings. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2002, and has formed important partnerships over the years, including with Playtech and Orbis. When Caesars Entertainment bought William Hill in 2020, for £2.9 billion, it was delisted from the stock exchange, and branched out into the US.

Though Caesars Entertainment was only interested in using William Hill’s industry expertise to expand its own betting platform, Caesars Sportsbook. In 2021, just a year later, Caesars entered negotiations with 888 Holdings, which agreed to buy the European side of William Hill for £2.2 billion. Cut down to £1.95 billion the following year, the sale was completed in 2022 July.

William Hill Business Timeline

• 1934 Founded: William Hill initially offered postal and telephone betting
• 1971 Acquisition: Sold to Sears Holdings, marking its first major corporate ownership shift
• 1988 Acquisition: Sold to Grand Metropolitan, which merged William Hill with Mecca Bookmakers
• 1989 Acquisition: Sold to Brent Walker, becoming part of a major leisure group before the firm collapsed
• 1997 Acquisition: Sold to Nomura, which restructured and modernized the business, including early online offerings
• 1999 Acquisition: Sold to private equity firms Cinven & CVC, setting the stage for public listing
• 2002 Stock Exchange Listing: William Hill became an FTSE 250 company
• 2005 Major expansion: WH acquires 600+ Stanley Leisure betting shops, its largest retail purchase
• 2011–2013 Tech advance: William Hill buys out Playtech’s stake in William Hill Online and expands internationally, including early U.S. sportsbook acquisitions
• 2021–2022 Acquisition: Caesars acquires William Hill; UK and international assets then sold to 888 (now Evoke), returning the brand to dedicated gambling ownership
• 2022 Sotkc Exchange Delisting: Caesars delisted William Hill from the London Stock Exchange
• 2025 Potential Sale: Now, Evoke is considering selling William Hill

Breaking up William Hill, in this context, does not mean liquidating the company. It means splitting off the branches or divisions, and selling parts of William Hill to interested parties.

Companies Previously Linked to William Hill Deals

When William Hill was put up for sale in 2021, it attracted numerous top gambling and entertainment brands before Caesars won the bid with a £2.9 billion lump sum. These could be the very parties that Evoke now looks back to when it explores the notion of selling William Hill, provided the interest is still there. A lot has happened in the past 3 years, but the parties could be frontrunners in the race to buy William Hill.

Apollo Global Management, a US private equity giant, was Caesars’ main contender when William Hill was put under the hammer in 2022. The group has an extremely diverse portfolio, owning the web portal Yahoo!, Cov Mexida Group broadcasters, The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, Airbnb, and is a majority shareholder for the football club Atletico Madrid. Another potential buyor is Entain, the main rival of Evoke in the UK. They own Ladbrokes and Coral, and previously expressed interest in acquiring William Hill – though some insiders reckon there may be a conflict of interest running Ladbrokes and William Hill.

Though it may not be as straightforward as outright buying the brand off Evoke. Because Evoke may choose to break up William Hill, selling off just the retail betting shops, or parts of its online offering. The online sports betting platform may draw in the likes of bet365 or DraftKings, who could see it as a great opportunity to expand. Betfred, another UK bookmaker, has previously shown an interest in William Hill’s retail shops, especially during the 2022 sale.

Other UK Brands Hit By Tax Increase

Very few operators will actually avoid the brunt of the tax hikes and be able to continue their operations without major changes. The gambling reforms hit online casinos the hardest, followed by sports betting. However, general betting duty on landbased operations will remain the same at 15%, and horse race betting will also keep the same taxes. Meaning operators who just deliver those products can carry on without the fear of losing big revenue.

Bingo operators with physical bingo halls are going to have their 10% tax abolished from April 2026, which could provide a little relief for William Hill (through Mecca). But William Hill as a whole, with bingo, sports betting, online slots, table games and its other products, will not be better off with the new hikes.

Larger operators are having to rethink their strategies. For smaller brands running online bookmakers or casino gaming platforms, the tax hikes could very well force them to make significant cutbacks or even exit the UK.

How the UK Autumn Budget Affects Players

William Hill, with its reputation and marketing pull, will most likely not be pulled and disappear from the UK. It is still one of the big players in the UK betting and gaming sectors. However, changes are imminent, and not just for William Hill but all licensed UK bookmakers and gaming sites. The big companies can soak up so much of the tax hikes, but they will have to cut back where possible to reduce the financial impact. Relocating, like Sky Bet, or closing betting shops is not enough. As a player, or a punter, it is quite reasonable to expect the financial hit to spill over into the actual products you get online.

Bookmakers may introduce higher juice to increase their revenue, basically tightening the betting odds in favour of the house. More restrictive betting limits can also help cut back on the financial liability the operators must offer, which in turn limits the maximum a punter can win on a bet. Though they won’t be alone. Online casino operators, who have bigger tax duties, may lower the game RTP rates, and possibly trim their games collections to look for cheaper titles rather than pick expensive casino games.

Across the board, it may mean fewer bonuses and promotions, or a worse quality of promotional offers. While operators may not cut their bonuses visibly, they may increase the wagering conditions, thus reducing the potential for consumers to convert the bonuses into real money.

Changes Coming to the UK Gambling Scene

All these impacts endanger the UK gambling sector as a whole, as they can push players to the black market, unlicensed sites. Industry insiders are pushing back against the tax hikes and doing what they can to mitigate the costs operators face, but the truth is that these kinds of taxation or gambling reforms often come with significant backlash. Lawmakers and operators both agree on battling the black market, but when the official product drops in quality, it can lose valuable customers to the black market.