UK operators have begun restructuring cost bases following April's Remote Gambling Duty increase, with attention now on workforce optimisation, technology spending and player cohort sustainability.
Entain announced a restructuring that will cut up to 500 roles globally, though the company says the move is not a direct response to the tax change. Bally's Intralot acquired Evoke, an operator that had publicly acknowledged difficulties adapting to the new tax burden. The deal forms part of Bally's European expansion strategy.
Ollie Woodward, director of corporate finance at BDO, told the M&A Summit in July that the firm is in active talks with five to six UK gambling businesses on large transactions, covering both B2C operators and suppliers. Operators are reviewing player cohorts, RTP settings, marketing mix and budgets. Some are looking beyond the UK for growth — Alberta, for instance, is launching online licensing.
Regulated revenue now commands higher valuations than unregulated income: it offers cleaner exits and better multiples. Bet365 and Yolo Group have both wound down or reduced operations in black and grey markets over the past year. Buyers now demand granular revenue breakdowns by source, especially where a company operated before regulation arrived. Woodward says the key question is not whether a business has that history, but how it acted when the market moved into the legal framework.
