Industry

Bally’s deal for Mr Green owner hits US licensing snag

By Sara Holmberg · Published 28 October 2026

The takeover of evoke, the parent company behind Mr Green, William Hill and 888, has hit an unexpected obstacle. A poker agreement with Caesars in the US state of Pennsylvania means Bally’s Intralot’s acquisition could be delayed, even though shareholders on both sides have already approved the deal.

What has changed

Bally’s Intralot, the company behind US-based Bally’s Corporation and Greek lottery firm Intralot, agreed in June to buy evoke for just over £243 million. Bally’s Intralot agreed to acquire evoke in a deal worth approximately £243 million, in an all-paper transaction valuing evoke at 52 pence per share. Evoke’s shareholders subsequently voted almost unanimously in favour.

The acquisition must be approved by regulators in several jurisdictions, including Pennsylvania, where Bally’s Corporation already runs digital operations. Evoke has very limited presence in the US following its termination of the Sports Illustrated partnership in 2024. The problem concerns a remaining agreement in which evoke’s subsidiary 888 Atlantic supplies technology, account management and customer support for Caesars’ WSOP online poker business in Pennsylvania, tied to a specific interactive gaming manufacturer licence.

The state’s rules restrict exactly this kind of acquisition when the buyer also holds its own interactive gaming licence, which Bally’s does through Bally’s Pennsylvania. A standard licensing review could take nine months or more, risking a stretched timeline. The Caesars agreement currently runs until 19 September 2026 under its latest extension, with provision for a wind-down period of up to six months.

According to the companies’ latest reporting, the deal remains on track regardless. Evoke says its takeover by Bally’s Intralot is progressing as planned, with shareholders of both companies having approved the deal and most regulatory approvals already received, with completion expected late in the fourth quarter of 2026 or early in the first quarter of 2027.

What it means for you

If you play at Mr Green, your Swedish gaming licence is not affected by the ongoing ownership dispute in the US. Mr Green continues to operate under evoke’s Swedish licence unless Spelinspektionen says otherwise. If ownership does eventually change hands, separate approvals will be required in Sweden too, but that lies further down the process.

Remember that a welcome bonus only applies once per licence holder. If you already hold an account at another site sharing a licence with Mr Green, the same rule applies there. You can see a full picture of which sites belong to the network on our Mr Green sister sites page, and more on the wider group on our evoke page. If gambling starts taking up too much space in your life, help is available through Stödlinjen, and Spelpaus.se lets you exclude yourself from all licensed operators.

The bigger picture

The deal was born out of evoke’s financial crisis. Evoke, formerly 888 Holdings, has been operating under considerable financial strain since its purchase of William Hill’s UK business from Caesars Entertainment in 2022, a deal that left the company with debt of roughly £1.86 billion. Tighter UK gambling taxes then pushed the company into a strategic review that ended with Bally’s Intralot’s bid.

To fund the purchase and refinance the debt, Bally’s Intralot has lined up around £889 million from TPG Credit, Oaktree and OHA. The Pennsylvania hurdle shows how complicated cross-border gambling deals can become, even once owners and shareholders have already said yes. For Swedish players, it’s a reminder that ownership changes at the big groups rarely happen overnight, and why it pays to keep track of who actually stands behind the site you play on.