Bally's Intralot reported adjusted net debt above €1.6bn for the first half of 2026 as it prepares to close its acquisition of evoke, the parent company of William Hill and Mr Green.
Debt rose €135m year-on-year. The main driver was an €86m payment for an electronic gaming machine licence in the state of Victoria, Australia. A further €20.5m went to capital investments, €20.8m to share buyback operations, and €14.5m to transaction fees and bond issuance costs.
Bally's Intralot was formed in mid-2025 when Greece's Intralot acquired the international B2B assets of Bally's Corporation (Bally's International Interactive, BII). Over the six-month period BII contributed €377.6m in revenue and €132.8m in adjusted EBITDA. Group revenue for the half reached €544.2m, up from €182m a year earlier, while EBITDA climbed from €60.2m to €184.8m. The group swung to a €7.2m loss, likely driven by costs tied to the evoke deal.
The evoke acquisition is valued at £243m. Bally's Intralot raised £261.7m through a bond issue in July 2026 to finance the transaction. evoke itself carries debt of £1.89bn, though Bally's Intralot chief executive Robeson Reeves has described it as non-recourse to the acquirer.
evoke shareholders approved the deal on 17 August with a 99% vote in favour. Reeves expects completion in the fourth quarter of 2026 or the first quarter of 2027, pending regulatory clearance. In the UK, Bally's Intralot posted 11.6% NGR growth in the second quarter, and 9% in Spain.
